Circular Implementation Of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS)

Abstract

The failure of the linear economic paradigm to preserve material value highlights the limitations of waste management approaches, as well as the fact that sustainability accountability practices remain predominantly focused on formal reporting. This study aims to understand how the circular economy is interpreted and practiced as a form of sustainability accountability by actors at the community level, as well as how this interpretation relates to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The study employs a qualitative approach based on Alfred Schutz’s Social Phenomenology at the Lamber Waste Bank in Makassar. Data were collected through in-depth interviews, participatory observation, and documentation, and were subsequently analyzed using the concepts of units of meaning, noema-noesis, stock of knowledge, “because” motives, and “in-order-to” motives. The findings indicate that the circular economy is interpreted not merely as a waste management technique, but as a process of consciousness transformation that shifts the status of waste from a residue to a source of economic, social, and ecological value. At the practical level, sustainability accountability is upheld through honest weighing practices, transparent record-keeping in savings ledgers, consistent service delivery, and relationships of trust among stakeholders. This interpretation suggests that the achievement of the SDGs at the local level occurs through the internalization of sustainability values into daily actions, particularly those related to SDGs 8, 11, 12, and 13.. This study contributes by proposing the concept of “lived sustainability accountability” as a form of accountability rooted in ethical awareness, intersubjective experience, and everyday social practices, rather than solely in reporting formalities.