Unraveling the effect of circular economy practices on companies' sustainability performance: Evidence from a literature review

The implementation of the circular economy (CE) is expected to lead companies to become more sustainable. However, the effects of CE practices on the sustainability performance of companies are diffuse, even more so when both are influenced by drivers such as Industry 4.0 and stakeholder pressure, among others. The current literature offers divergent and limited views on how to study these dynamics and effects, causing in some cases a partial view of the subject, confusion, and contradictions in understanding this dynamic between sustainability performance, CE practices and drivers that impact them. In order to contribute to this field of knowledge, this study aims to analyze the effect of CE practices on the companies' sustainability performance and the external and internal drivers that influence both of them. To achieve this goal, this study carried out a literature review, including snowballing techniques and content analysis. In the results, we present a theoretical framework that articulates in a systemic way the drivers, practices, CE fields of action and sustainability performance and the theories that support this relationship. Finally, we suggest an agenda for future research in this field of knowledge.