Circular economy in the context of implementing the concept of sustainable development

During the last three decades the entire progressive world has been trying to put into practice the concept of sustainable development, which implies balancing environmental, economic and social aspects of development. The main focus of this paper is to generalise and systematise modern theoretical and practical approaches to achieving the sustainable development goals. The author devotes particular attention to the concept of circular economy. The conceptual frameworks of sustainable development, green economy, and circular economy (closedloop economy) constitute the methodological basis of the research. The methods include analysis, synthesis, classification, observation. The author proves the possibility and importance of taking into account the sustainable development goals while managing general modernisation processes in society and the economy. The paper reveals that the development of the ‘umbrella’ concept of green economy as a tool for attaining the sustainable development goals, relies on the concepts of environmentally friendly production, the best available technologies, and the circular economy. The author considers theoretical and practical foundations of the circular as a new trend in the development of the concept of sustainable development and studies regulatory, market, financial, investment, economic, technological, and organisational factors that affect the application of the circular economy principles in Russia. The results of the research can help to reach the sustainable development goals at various levels and spheres of economic management using the closed-loop economy tools: circular business models, secondary raw materials markets, methods for managing the cyclical nature of production and consumption