A critical analysis of the circular economy in southern Europe: an innovative proposal for addressing environmental degradation and the sustainability of life

In 2015 the European Commission designed its Circular Economy Action Plan, in January 2017 it published a Report on the Implementation of the Circular Economy Action Plan, and in January 2018 it adopted its latest series of measures. The aim of this chapter is to compare the Spanish and Italian circular economy policies and strategies as case studies. We examine the selected sectors, instruments and indicators in each case to carry out an analysis of the situation and exploration of future trends. The perspectives of total sustainability or sustainability for life are our analysis bases on the circular economy. The results show that the analysed strategies do not consider the tensions between the ecological objectives of the concept of the circular economy and the social implications of their implementation.