Analysis of social dimension and well-being in the context of circular economy

Abstract

Circular economy (CE) is based on environmental, economic and social dimensions which aims to ensure sustainable development on each step of product creation, transformation and conversion by creating a closed loop economy. The purpose of the article is to propose a concept of social dimension of the CE, apply and provide empirical evidence based on the data of Baltic Sea region countries. The study augmented for the models that include the analysis of the circular economy concept, necessary for the social pillar as part of it including: human well-being, healthy ageing, health and social justice. The multi-criteria decision methods MULTIMOORA and TOPSIS were used to assess the social dimension in the context of circular economy. Results reveal that the highest ranks of social aspect of circular economy were tagged to Denmark, Sweden and Finland for the periods of 2014-2017 and the weakest result belonged to Latvia. Findings are also useful to add to theoretical building and also evaluate the social aspect in the concept of circular economy.