The relevance of reconfiguring social systems of production and consumption as a strategy to enable sustainability in the context of the circular economy

This study investigates the effectiveness of the circular economy, a part of the field of study called “Green Economy”, in mitigating environmental impacts and improving sustainability. To this end, a bibliographical study was carried on the effectiveness of the circular economy as a means to achieve plain sustainability. Through the analysis of recycling strategy for different materials, as well as other circularity initiatives, it was verified that the adoption of mitigating circular actions alone is not sufficient to achieve sustainability, requiring the adoption of actions at a systematic level of responses. This way, circular economy can be a possible path for a sustainable transition as long as it is combined with the reconfiguration of social systems of production and consumption to overcome current unsustainable patterns and reduce the impact on natural ecosystems. In this sense, decommodification of products presents itself as a possible practice in order to reach the response level necessary to effectively combat environmental degradation.