A Review of Circular Economy

This paper reviewed plentiful classical and recent literatures of circular economy,from which several important conclusions were drawn: ①a canonical theoretical system for circular economy research has not been established so far,the theoretical kernel and theoretical boundary is not clear,which leads to the state of‘drift'and‘dilemma'with regard to the correlational research of circular economy; ②the eternal theme of circular economy is resource utility,the object of circular economy is the maximization of resource utility and the optimal resource allocation for meeting the needs of the present and the future generations,the essential difference between circular economy and traditional economy is the different cretiria for resource utility measurement; ③the essential attribute of circular economy is‘economic',its extension is the relationship between‘environment'and ‘economy'or ‘society'and ‘ecnonomy',the research scope of circular economy contains the relationship between resource saving and social justice or resource saving and environmental protection,but social justice and environmental protection itself is not the research content of circular economy. Meanwhile,this paper proposed several directions for further research based on the review: ①the mechanism of recycling; ②resource waste problems due to the frequent transactions of similar products,and its governance; ③resource waste problems due to the overproduction and overconsumption,and its governance; ④the measurement criteria,mathematical expression,and system design of resources utility; ⑤the quantitative calculation of material efficiency.