Circularity and Renewables in Sustainability: Challenges to Modern Growth Patterns ^†

Modern national governance often incorporates two policy directions into sustainable growth, i.e., renewables and circularity; both are already penetrating modernized growth parameters to alter linear development models. It is evident that circularity (dubbed CE, as circular economy) and renewable policy (RP, as a component in national energy mix) will play vital roles in reaching the SDGs and tackling other modern challenges.

Thus, the background of the study is to reveal (a) the modern process of CE’s introductory evolution within a national growth paradigm and (b) the role of renewables in the CE and sustainability, particularly in the European Union. The main methods used include: (a) analyzing the existing literature on the CE’s efforts (which are slowly replacing still dominating wasteful (i.e., “take, make and dispose”) linear growth models of national growth patterns: (b) revealing renewable approaches in energy and growth: and (c) applying contemporary commercial-type executive end regulatory instruments in the CE and renewables.

As soon as the main driving force in the political economy involves business and corporate activities, the research suggests a “common denominator” to the twin directions based on the “commercialization” of the two as the most plausible and efficient way to assist sustainable growth. Hence, the principal conclusions resonate with the research goals and underline that the most feasible way to effectively incorporate circularity and renewables into the national growth patterns is through the “commercialization” of the both. However, a radical shift is needed from the dominating “conventional neo-liberal regimes” towards “regulated politics and economics”, which has been recently declared by some Union’s institutions (Council and Commission).