The simple equivalence between sustainability and the circular model risks distancing the real solution to the many problems that beset the various economies. Certainly, it may favour the improvement of certain parameters and careful management of processes, from the supply of raw materials to the reduction of waste and emissions, from the rationalisation of methods to the reduction of waste, finally placing a limit on the exploitation of resources. But this may not be enough. Indeed, the revision of the many pre-analytical postulates that guide the choices and practices of the real economy can no longer be postponed; the transformation of the development model can no longer be postponed either. For we are faced with a question of economic anthropology. The circular model must therefore be accompanied by an integral approach to the economy that encompasses all aspects, from cultural to ethical, from demographic to environmental. In search of an integral ecology, of an integral development that puts the person, the environment and the responsible enterprise at the centre, no longer focused only on business, but oriented towards the territory and relationships. Not only because it is convenient, but because it is in its very nature and mission. Only in this way can the circular economy produce the great effects expected. A vision of the world and not a mere palliative.