Guest editorial: The role of Industry 4.0 in enabling circular economy
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/IMDS-04-2023-815 |
| Published date | 04 April 2023 |
| Date | 04 April 2023 |
| Pages | 1073-1083 |
| Subject Matter | Information & knowledge management,Information systems,Data management systems,Knowledge management,Knowledge sharing,Management science & operations,Supply chain management,Supply chain information systems,Logistics,Quality management/systems |
| Author | Lujie Chen,Woon Kian Chong,Guoquan Liu |
Guest editorial: The role of
Industry 4.0 in enabling
circular economy
1. Introduction
Research on circular economy (CE) has been of interest to academics and practitioners,
referring to industrial economies that aim to enrich sustainability through complementary
objects and design (Ghisellini et al., 2016). In the last two decades, manufacturing has
undergone a major shift from factory-based operations to internationally decentralised
networks, vertical collaboration between supply chain partners and business ecosystems (Shi
et al., 2021). The global industrialisation process is now more subject to the requirements and
constraints of environmental protection. However, issues such as pollution management
brought about by intense industrialisation make the balance between industrialisation and
ecology insoluble (Shi et al., 2021). The idea of reducing waste and increasing efficiency has
been of interest since the early days of the industrial economy, and CE currently aims to
achieve this by means of recovering value from tangible goods. This closed loop of recycling
and recovery can improve economic and environmental performance, for example, through
recycling and energy recovery (Ashby, 2018).
CE can address broader issues to address socio-environmental challenges (Ghisellini
et al., 2016). The circular supply chain (CSC) is a complex system that provides infinite
recycling, remanufacturing and recirculation of materials and resources (Genovese et al.,
2017;Webster and MacArthur, 2017). The implementation of a CE programme involves
company implementing strategies to develop the circularity of its production system and
collaborating with other companies throughout the supply chain to achieve a more
efficient circular production model (Genovese et al., 2017;Nasir et al., 2017;Wrinkler,
2011). In this context, engaging companies’supply chains in their CE initiatives is a
promising and worthwhile endeavour (Jiang and Zhou, 2012;Nasir et al., 2017). The
benefits of CE are enhanced by the acceleration of global challenges, particularly its
approach to maximising benefits and value across the biological and technological cycles
of products, components and materials. This can be achieved by deliberately considering
how resources are used and reused throughout a product’s lifecycle, from design to
disposal.
Scientistsand experts agree that technologycan contribute to more reliableand sustainable
CE outcomes (e.g. Kumar et al., 2018;Massaro et al., 2021). With the launch of the German
policy initiative “Industry 4.0”(I4.0), digital technologies have received much attention
from academics and practitioners, and this new approach is creating value (Ceipek et al.,
2020;Roblek et al., 2016). I4.0, AI, robotics, big data and the Internet of Things (IoT) have
accelerated industrialisation by increasing efficiencyand effectiveness (Kiel et al., 2017;Sung,
2018;Lanzolla et al., 2020). Today, companies are using a variety of technologies driven by
I4.0 to optimise their resource use, improve operational efficiency and achieve higher levels
of sustainability across all environmental, social and economic dimensions (Nikolaou et al.,
2021). This transformation requires companies’research and development (R&D), design
and production departments to respond quickly to the changing needs of external factors
such as the market and the natural environment, for example, Alibaba’s use of digital
technologies,including resource allocationat the organisational and businessecosystem level.
This is consistentwith the nature of CE, which refers to regenerativeor restorative industrial
Guest editorial
1073
Industrial Management & Data
Systems
Vol. 123 No. 4, 2023
pp. 1073-1083
© Emerald Publishing Limited
0263-5577
DOI 10.1108/IMDS-04-2023-815
To continue reading
Request your trial