From Circular Economy to Circular Ecology: A Review on the Solution of Environmental Problems through Circular Waste Management Approaches

Abstract

(1) Background: The application of concepts linked to the circular economy (CE) has led to a sudden development of studies in numerous fields. However, the level of environmental sustainability of CE strategies could be improved and this topic deserves more attention by the scientific community. This research addresses this gap and aims at presenting a new concept, named circular ecology (CEL), and its application to the field of waste management. (2) Methods: The paper presents a literature review on the criticalities of CE and on examples of studies that implement the CEL principles. (3) Results: The review highlights that CEL principles are widely applied to several fields of waste management, showing promising opportunities to export the results to other geographical contexts. (4) Conclusions: If supported by governments, CEL approaches may allow solving multiple environmental problems at once, with clear economic, time, resources, and emission savings.