The circular economy aims to redesign the approach under which value is produced in the productive and service sectors (SustainLuum, 2019). Within this redesign, a new approach is made on the optimal way in which materials and products are used and managed, and is mainly associated with economic development that manages to reduce environmental impact; the implementation of a life cycle approach and integration of externalities to the processes and actions of companies and governments. However, an important co-benefit associated with the circular economy is the opportunity it generates to improve the quality of life in society by considering aspects of social innovation in projects that implement a circular model.

The Circular Economy as a catalyst for equality

Despite the fact that the linear economy has allowed the generation of a high economic capital, the very design of this system under which the production and consumption of goods is carried out, has not favored an equitable distribution of economic benefits, thereby it has led to economic and social inequalities multiplying. Some linear economy practices that promote inequality are:

• The intense exploitation of resources and inefficient economic justice, in which the economic benefit obtained from the extraction of primary resources is a minimal amount compared to that obtained by the companies that sell the processed products to consumers. An example is the Mexican agricultural sector, in which during the 2006-2012 period, large companies (20% of the register) received 60% of government subsidies, while the remaining 40% was distributed among small and medium producers representing 80 % of the register (Gallegos, 2018). Similarly, it is estimated that in developing countries due to export competition from developed countries, an agricultural worker earns less than a dollar per day. (Mazoyer, 2016).
• Development of unfavorable work environments in relation to an unfair economic remuneration in which practices such as modern slavery is promoted, including child labor. The current consumption dynamics where the competition from which company can obtain the lowest prices to increase its production has directly developed a deterioration in the quality of life of developing countries by implementing a cheap labor industry whose wages only manage to cover the basic needs and indirectly generate locks for the workers so that they can overcome poverty. The clearest example of such locks is presented in the child labor generated in families that forced by poverty incorporate their children into the labor force, generally in conditions of vulnerability and denying access to education, which minimizes their chances of overcoming poverty, which generates a cycle in which child labor is presented both as a cause and symptom of poverty (Oficina Internacional del Trabajo, 2003).
• The constant renewal and updating of products, which is the fundamental flag of the linear economy. This activity allows the most favored class of society to be updated on technology, as well as to have constant access to tools that improve their quality of life, however, the middle class and the population in poverty makes it impossible to access certain tools and knowledge that help them overcome poverty and have greater social mobility.

The practices previously proposed are directly reflected in the possibility of a person to move from socioeconomic position in relation to the position in which their parents were located, that is, their social mobility, this indicator in Mexico has a discouraging behavior, 74 of each 100 people born in poverty will stay there their whole lives (CEEY, 2019).

The circular economy implies not only an alternative to improve the design of products and optimize the use of resources that enter the value chain with a focus on planetary boundaries, but also the opportunity to mitigate the negative effects on society of the linear economy that promotes social mobility with a just transition approach and regenerative design of the economic model.

Figure 1. Transition to a Social Circular Economy

A regenerative design

From the implementation of a circular economy, the creation of value is sought for all the people who are within the value chain and those individuals who are in its impact zone, so that the system is strengthened and assured its long-term prosperity. In order to comprehensively address the value chain and the various processes involved, it is necessary to approach the circular economy from a systemic thinking approach, that is, to observe each of the parts that make up a system and identify its dynamics and interrelationships so that the most appropriate strategy can be identified to implement a regenerative design for each of the elements that make up the system and generate synergies.

By extending the benefits of a circular system to the users, employees, collaborators and stakeholders of the community who are sustained, supported or impacted by the organization, growth, creativity and innovation are favored, for example by creating local production networks that provide economic support to individuals in the areas of influence who in a circular scheme could acquire the goods or services generated by the organization (Circular Design Guide, s/f).

In order to develop a regenerative business model within the organization, it is necessary to make the following considerations:

• What benefits does my company generate to the community where I am established?
• How can a circular economy model with social criteria enhance the perception of my company and the economic benefits generated from it?
• What do I expect from a social investment in my community and my employees?
• How can a prosperous, educated, and healthy community be linked to the strengthening of the company and its resilience in the long term?

Figure 2. Trajectory of Environmentally Responsible Design. Reed, 2007

In the previous diagram it can be seen how we are currently in a loop that is heading towards the degeneration of the systems that sustain our activities and the life of living beings by perpetuating conventional practices and fragmented systems. The objective is that with the regenerative circular economy this loop is reversed and can be taken beyond sustainability, which represents the midpoint at which there is no harm, but no benefit. The ideal, regenerative system will be one that uses energy efficiently and manages to maintain practices that not only mitigate negative impacts on the environment, but that naturally promote collaborative models through human activities with a return to the environment and the community , thereby improving productivity by directly feeding biological systems and generating systemic improvements that allow humans to develop within planetary boundaries..

Decent work and just transition

Like the measures established in different platforms, mainly that of combating climate change, it is necessary to define certain parameters that the economy must follow so that it can remain within a just transition scheme, that is, that the changes it generates in labor and social dynamics do not generate a long-term negative impact on socially vulnerable sectors.

The implementation of a circular economy will generate changes and restructure trade relations, value chains and raw material flows between countries, which can decrease the demand for some of these products generated from developing economies, and will generate labor impacts and place developing countries in positions of vulnerability to the risks of the transition. The negative impacts in developing economies will mainly include economic and social impacts, which will be reflected in the greater difficulty of these countries in achieving their objectives set out in the 2030 Agenda, for which it will be essential to undertake initiatives focused on international support to implement just transition schemes (Schröder, 2020).

The circular economy is expected to achieve net creation of at least 6 million jobs globally by 2030, primarily in the recycling, service and remanufacturing sectors. (Schröder, 2020). However, the creation of these jobs will also indirectly generate the loss of others due to lower demand and the obsolescence of the products generated in linear industries, which is why it is necessary to tackle it through strategies that ensure, as stated in the principle of the 2030 Agenda, “leave no one behind” with the integration of innovation and the empowerment of education to provide vulnerable sectors with the necessary tools to access Industry 4.0.

Addressing social and labor issues that may have negative impacts on linear sectors is of great importance not only from an ethical point of view to avoid job loss, but to ensure the sustainability of the process itself. With the experiences of various populist politicians who find opportunities for power in the negative social and labor reaction to the changes implied by the movements directed towards sustainability, which hinders the achievement of the sustainable development goals, for example, Donald Trump in United States and AfD in Germany by denying climate change and promoting the use of fossil fuels (WRI, 2020).

Social Circular Economy

Multiple promoters of the circular economy have reached out to governments and organizations to open the way for the implementation of the circular economy. However, the predominant proposal is one focused on economic benefits, and although the circular economy offers the opportunity for stable and sustained economic development, one of the objectives is to walk out of the current paradigm in which the focus is on improving obtaining economic gains by optimizing the use of natural resources and labor productivity (Social Circular Economy, 2017).

It is then that the popularly spread approach can ignore the social and to be specific, the negative social externalities created by a capitalist model that are not necessarily internalized within a circular scheme.

Specifically, the circular economy can make significant progress in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) 9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure and 12. Responsible Consumption and Production. In addition to this, when a social approach is used in the implementation of the circular economy, important achievements can be reached in SDG 5. Gender Equality, 8. Decent Work and Economic Growth and 10. Reduced Inequalities (Social Circular Economy, 2017).

The circular economy provides society and companies with the platform to generate an improvement in the economic system that simultaneously favors social development by integrating the community and creating opportunities that improve their quality and living conditions while simultaneously mitigate the environmental impacts generated in anthropogenic activities.