Abstract Closing the loop for resource efficiency is a well‐known practice in the industry. To concretize the circular economy implementation strategies, closed‐loop thinking requires innovation and adaptation. Circular supply chains (CSCs) are one of the key enablers in closing the loop by design or intention for value recovery and profit maximization. CSC is an emerging area, and the view of CSC where forward and reverse supply chain is seamlessly integrated with the overall aim to achieve system‐wide circularity is missing in the academic debate. By offering a cross‐functional perspective of CSC, this paper presents a CSC guiding framework to structure and understand the underlying complexities and highlight the crucial elements of the CSC implementation. Thus, this framework lays the basis for CSC within the systemic implementation of CE by closing the loop by design or intention. The framework categorizes the CSC into four building blocks, namely, systemic approach, main drivers, levels of decision making, and mechanisms to manage the full loop closure and minimize the inherent uncertainties of a complex system. The building blocks of the framework are synthesized from various streams of supply chain literature and recurring concepts in the circular economy literature. The CSC framework applicability is illustrated using two industrial cases that are transitioning towards the circular economy.
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