RESPONSIBLE CONSUMER IN THE CONTEXT OF CIRCULAR ECONOMY

Recently, the concept of the circular economy is widely discussed among scholars and practitioners. There are so-called R - strategies or frameworks (e.g. 3R, 4R, 6R, 9R), to achieve core goals of the circular economy. These frameworks should contribute to accomplishing an effort to shift the global towards sustainability. A circular economy can be seen as an economic system based on "cradle to cradle" concept. The forest-based industry has a great potential to shift from cradle to grave" towards cradle to cradle" concept. Forest-based sector processes renewable resources and this is a strong argument to implement such a novel business model in a first line. The shift from the linear economy to the circular economy involves not only business entities but also consumers. Responsible consumer is a part of the "circle" and without such a consumer, it is impossible to bring into life the functional circular economy. The aim of the paper is to describe consumer from "the circular perspective" according to the 6R concept applied by a responsible consumer in the condition of the Slovak Republic. To fulfil this aim, we conducted a survey among 1061 Slovak inhabitants. The results show the differences in intensity of the 6R concept application in their everyday life as well as respondents' willingness to implement changes and participate "in the spinning wheel of the responsible consumption" and thus to contribute to the sustainable future and wellbeing.