Life Cycle Thinking (LCT) seeks to identify potential improvements through all life cycle stages of a product or system in order to lower overall negative impacts (environmental, social, economic) and improve the global use of resources. It helps to create a better understanding of how decisions about a given product system could impact the economy, the environment, and society at all stages and related locations of a product system, becoming a central framework for numerous policies and instruments related to sustainable consumption and production, waste management, and improved product design. This article explains the interconnections of LCT with principles of the circular economy and eco-industrial development and elucidates several examples of successfully implemented LCT approaches for evaluating and improving production systems in Germany and Chile. Furthermore, it describes the incentives that currently exist at the regulatory and voluntary levels for companies to implement LCT in their organizations. Nevertheless, although the implementation of LCT helps provide more information on production systems and motivates innovation for more sustainable production, the behavior and decisions of consumers must also evolve towards a more responsible use of resources in order to achieve a circular economy and ensure global sustainability in the long term.