The rampant use of resources and the increasing risk of scarcity have been contributing to greater awareness regarding the need for maintaining resources in use for longer and the shift to renewable alternatives, in which perspective the concept of a circular bioeconomy (CBE) has been permeating the most diverse sectors. Therefore, the study's aims were manifold: identify (i) existing practices and initiatives, (ii) barriers and potential opportunities and (iii) existing gaps for advancing a circular bioeconomy in Latin America and the Caribbean (LAC) and (iv) provide recommendations aiming at the development of a circular bioeconomy (CBE) in the region. To that end, a systematic review of the existing academic literature was done, and reports from relevant non-peer reviewed sources were also consulted. CBE practices in LAC are concentrated in only a few of the countries in the region and very much revolve around recovering value from by-products and waste streams. There are a range of economic, technological, environmental, and social barriers. Opportunities for a CBE are mainly related to the use of waste as raw material (found abundantly in the countries being investigated) and the use of new techniques/technologies. The gaps between the current state and a successful CBE are related to policy, scaling-up, collaborations, and establishing efficient business models. Recommendations for a successful CBE in the region include greater engagement of public actors, investing and developing the local economy, establishing biorefineries and industrial parks, and finding new technological routes for bioresources.

Pig waste can be used to generate energy through biogas and has been gaining importance for being a renewable energy source. The resulting biogas can be used in many forms, such as to produce electricity and supply local networks using microgrids. This helps bring greater stability and energy security to local electricity supply networks. Under this light, this article aims to (i) report on socio-environmental impacts, (ii) present lessons learned (from a circular economy and territorial intelligence perspective), and (iii) point out future business opportunities of value recovery from waste in rural properties. To that end, a case study was carried out in a rural property in Paraná, Brazil. The authors conducted local visits and surveys, and consulted documents provided by the property owners about projects making use of biogas produced from pig waste and used to generate electricity. Different partnerships between the property and public and private bodies enable business opportunities arising from projects that range from the commercialization of carbon credits, decentralized energy generation, to sale of energy to the State's energy provider and establishing Microgrids. From those projects, direct and indirect environmental and social benefits are primarily related to the replacement of non-renewable energy with renewable energy from waste, and impacts avoided from the inadequate handling of pig waste. The results show that it is possible to explore the energy potential of rural properties, based on livestock waste, by developing partnerships with public and private actors, producing energy from biogas, from circular economy and territorial intelligence perspectives.

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Em consequência dos diversos problemas ambientais enfrentados em todo o mundo, depara-se com a necessidade de desenvolver um ambiente em que haja uma constante harmonia entre a produção/consumo de bens materiais e o meio ambiente. Nesse contexto, a Economia Circular surge como um conceito inovador que visa a desenvolver estratégias para mitigar os efeitos gerados pela antiga economia linear a partir da criação de um ecossistema mais sustentável. O objetivo deste trabalho é realizar um levantamento prospectivo nas bases tecnológicas de patentes EPO, USPTO e INPI, baseado em palavras-chave associadas aos métodos e às técnicas da Economia Circular e sua aplicabilidade. Como resultado, foram encontradas 1.277 patentes em diversas áreas de estudos e de diferentes países. Posteriormente, observou-se um crescimento relevante na concessão de novas patentes ao longo dos últimos anos, motivado pela importância da criação de novas tecnologias que têm como intuito solucionar problemas ambientais que ocorrem em áreas ainda mais específicas.

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