The role of Industry 4.0 technologies in the transition to a circular economy: a practice perspective

Abstract

AbstractCircular Economy (CE) is critical to the United Nations 2030 agenda for sustainable development. This transition can be fostered by technologies from Industry 4.0 (I40), one of the main engines for digital transformation. Science has already documented models, theoretical frameworks, and case studies linking CE and I40 together. However, the research agenda still needs to address a gap regarding how practitioners use these technologies to pursue circularity. Based on a practitioner’s perspective, this article aims to understand how I40 technologies can support the transition to a CE. We distributed an open-ended survey and received 361 responses from organizations in 37 countries. This sample resulted in 154 usable records that were examined through content analysis. We identified a field-validated list of 31 information-technology (IT) capabilities, revealing that most initiatives are reactive – focused on reducing waste and recycling – rather than proactive. This article contributes to research to identify new IT capabilities for CE that emerge from practice and to provide a structured way for organizations to pursue circularity.

Keywords

• Circular economy
• IT capabilities
• artificial intelligence
• Industry 4.0
• resource-based view theory