Circular Economy in the Contemporary Panorama of the Sugarcane Energy Industries of Brazil’s Northeast

The Circular Economy (CE) model has become allied with the global sustainability movement, through a more efficient management of natural resources, seeking to invest in its cycle and keep it as long as possible in the process productive without compromising quality. In this sense, considering the growing participation of the sugar and alcohol segment, the relevance of the theme in search of promoting management linked to the reduction of the impact of productive activities in Paraiba state (Brazil) and the importance of integrated management models, this work aims to analyze, in current context, how the quality and environmental management systems are set up in companies in the sugar and alcohol sector in Paraiba state, aligned with the principles of the circular economy. Through an exploratory and descriptive research, a case study was carried out, using qualitative data collected from real events. The results point to committed managers, advances in management policies, the sector attentive to the needs of the environment, but with greater interest in profitability. A certain circularity of the product was still observed in practice, but the theory is still maturing. The research contributed to the sector studied, as well as to other sectors, in awakening the need to deepen their knowledge in CE using the tool to seek points of environmental and profitable improvements within the circulation of its raw material. It is concluded that the current scenario of the sugar-alcohol sector has Circular Economy possibilities as a tool applicable to the branch of activity, that with an integrated management the perspectives are preferable and these have to walk in harmony with the decision-making of how to do for generation of value.