Agrarian Economy 2023 Т. 16 № 3-4: 15-26

CIRCULAR ECONOMY, SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY AND COMPETITIVENESS OF THE ENTERPRISE

Cherevko H., Doctor of Economic Sciences, professor
ORCID ID: 0000-0002-0072-5816
Kotsai V., Master degree student
ORCID ID: 0009-0006-7326-0550
Lviv National Environmental University

https://doi.org/10.31734/agrarecon2023.03-04.015

ANNOTATION

The purpose of this article is to present the results of the study of the possible impacts of the circular economy on increasing the level and diversifying the forms of enterprises’ competitiveness under conditions of implanting the sustainable development concept and increasing the level of corporate social responsibility. To achieve this purpose, the research aimed to solve the following tasks, namely to systematize and summarize the available results of other scientists' research on the essence of the circular economy, evolution of this concept and practice of its implementation, as well as the features of its impact on increasing the level of competitiveness; the meaning and relationship of social responsibility with the implementation of the circular economy and their impact on sustainable development; to study the experience of the countries of the world in the circular economy implementation in business practice; to substantiate the necessity of introducing the circular economy in Ukraine. In the study, it is accepted that one of the real ways to solve the problem of the aggravation of the contradiction between economic growth and damage to the natural environment from this growth is to reduce the burden on the natural environment in terms of its function as a place for storing or burying waste, since objectively there is no other such place on our planet. That kind of solution can be quite easily fulfilled under the conditions of introducing the circular model of the economy, which allows either to reduce the amount of waste or to avoid its generation by reusing what gives reason to call the circular economy a closed cycle economy. The circular economy as a new model of the economy, which involves completely different, compared to traditional, approaches to the production of products based on the avoidance of waste generation or their reuse, raises the level of product competitiveness to a completely new level. The process of implementing the circular economy is accompanied by an increase in the level of enterprises’ social responsibility for the results of their activities concerning the environment and the implementation of the concept of sustainable development since the circular economy is a new economic development strategy that takes into account environmental factors. The competitiveness of products produced based on the circular economy plays a crucial role in shaping the competitiveness of the enterprises, industries and countries, which produce such products, as well as the method and conditions of the product production shape its competitiveness and the necessary level of social responsibility of the producers.

KEY WORDS

economic growth, natural environment, circular economy, social responsibility, competitiveness

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