The nexus between circular economy and competition policy

Competition and sustainability are interdependent concepts which critically try to find ways to maintain the market economy without the threats to the sustainable development goals. There are a few approaches by which the competition policy might promote the circular economy. Both concepts stimulate companies to maximize the value of inputs and raw resources, while improving the efficiency of using limited resources. Since the effective use of natural resources and production efficiency go hand in hand, competition is one of the forces which accelerates the transition to a circular economy. As a result, using the present analytical framework and conventional methods, competition authorities' work can fundamentally aid in the shift to a circular economy, even in cases where regulatory action may be lacking or is insufficient. The domain of this field is not examined enough and provides ambiguous findings. The objectives of the circular economy and competition are significantly aligned, even though competition by itself does not always impel the adoption of circular business models. The main goal of the paper is to connect the circular economy and competition policy, as well as to determine the nature and specifics of this connection.