Currently, there is a disengagement of the government with the urgency to act to curb environmental degradation, therefore, the purpose of the research was to conduct a systematic review that inspects the application of circular economy in public management, observe what has been developed in the literature at the international level and provide a summary of knowledge, comprehensively using empirical and relevant sources (indexed to Scopus, Science Direct, and Proquest) in the period 2012-2022. The circular economy concept implies the separation of environmental consequences and economic growth. This paper examines four topics related to the transition to circularity: 1) governance (managerial and regulatory state), 2) waste management, 3) public procurement, and 4) barriers that hinder its implementation. The State can use the first three as leverage to boost the circular economy. A limitation found was that the literature is very focused on waste management.Finally, it's concluded that a government capable of fostering intersectoral cooperation, designing policies, implementing programs, and promoting education, in the framework of circularity and sustainable innovation is vitally important for societies to perceive benefits in economic and environmental terms.