High growth rates of natural resources consumption in recent years, pollution of the environment contribute to the development of theories regarding the future provision of natural resources on the Earth. Thepurpose of the article is to study the concept of sustainable development and the need for its introductioninto economic activity, definition of ideas influencing the modern concept of the circular economy. The concept of stable development and circular economy is analyzed, common features and differences are defined.It has been established that the circular economy is a prerequisite and driver of the fourth industrial revolution. The basis of the circular economy are closed supply chains. They combine the usual processes of adirect supply chain with reverse logistics processes, ranging from product recovery, disassembly and reuseof individual parts.