Evaluation of circular skills and circular mind-set of consumers with the use of it - case study in a sample of consumers in northeast Brazil compared to a sample of internal stakeholders of an industry in transition to the circular economy
Authors: Brito Celene 
Published: July 2024

The circular economy concept has spread around the world, including Europe and Latin America. It is defined as a concept that led to a rethinking of economic and sustainable practices today and is inspired by the functioning of ecosystems and nature. It is innovation and design that are inseparable from products and systems, in the context of sustainable development. It is based on the principle of “closing the life cycle” of products, allowing a reduction in the consumption of raw materials, energy, and water. It promotes the development of new relationships between companies, which become consumers and suppliers of materials and are reincorporated into the production cycle. Several Circular Economy goals have already been achieved in the field of research, science, and technology. Numerous studies and efforts have been performed in the scientific and technological area for searching solutions to overcome legal, regulatory, political and technological barriers posed by several institutions; among them, the pioneering Ellen Mac Arthur Foundation has been joining efforts over the years in improving the conception and operation of the circular economy, applied to industrial processes and production chains, as well as in the structuring of new technological ecosystems. For every achievement, new challenges arise for the Circular Economy, which now needs to gain the trust of managers, politicians, investors, and entrepreneurs to initiate, plan and manage the circular economy in industry and companies. Consumers present challenges that need to be overcome by offering differentiated products and services. The objective of the work reported here was to identify mental and cultural barriers, which can generate various obstacles to the development of Circular Economy and Environmental Social Governance (ESG, such as climate change, pollution, and human resource management) issues and find ways and guidelines to resolve the problem. When investigating mentality, culture and skills for the Circular Economy, there are several possibilities to contribute to the construction of knowledge applied to the reality of companies and consumers, carrying out pilot studies in Industries with the method expressly created and oriented towards the “integrated assessment of competence", with the objective of planning and implementing the circular economy. It is based on the identification of mental models, on psychological aspects that are in line with the transition to the Circular Economy.” This method is reported here and has been used to collect data for the author's doctoral thesis. As a tool, the information platform was used, with FlashPlayHR® software (www.flashplayhr.com.br/#). bilingual, in Portuguese and English, and was developed with the aim of helping leaders, employees and stakeholders to better understand the complex systems developed through innovation in the Circular Economy. It is based on the assessment of mental models from linear to circular, as well as in identifying skills to operate with circular models. The case studies presented here included an electronics recovery and recycling industry located in São Paulo – Brazil in 2022 and a group of internet users. The study defines circular guidelines based on mindset, generating data for systemic, tactical, and operational planning, with interaction between technology and humans. The method provided the mapping/diagnosis of each employee and the organization's human system, defining the stages of the process “from linear to circular,” generating content for conducting systemic planning. One of the fundamental aspects of the method is to support the strategic human resources area of organizations, providing conditions for creating constructive interaction and integration with other areas of the industry to build a Systemic Corporate Governance Model., in addition to data and content for the development of circular programs and actions. The systems view becomes preponderant and fundamental for planning. The method/software was applied to two groups of people: one more focused on circular economy in the context of an electronic recovery industry, and another more distant from circular economy concepts, formed by Internet users. The methodology applied to the electronic retrieval industry and a random group of Internet users is reported here in detail. It was possible to identify the “linear to circular” stage of the industry to achieve the circular model.