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Towards the Smart Circular Economy Paradigm: A Definition, Conceptualization, and Research Agenda
RISE Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy.
RISE Laboratory, Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, University of Brescia, 25123 Brescia, Italy.
Section of Engineering Design and Product Development, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark.
Luleå University of Technology, Department of Social Sciences, Technology and Arts, Business Administration and Industrial Engineering. Department of Business, History and Social Science, USN School of Business, University of South-Eastern Norway, 3679 Notodden, Norway.ORCID iD: 0000-0003-3255-414X
2022 (English)In: Sustainability, E-ISSN 2071-1050, Vol. 14, no 9, article id 4960Article in journal (Refereed) Published
Abstract [en]

The digital age we live in offers companies many opportunities to jointly advance sustainability and competitiveness. New digital technologies can, in fact, support the incorporation of circular economy principles into businesses, enabling new business models and facilitating the redesign of products and value chains. Despite this considerable potential, the convergence between the circular economy and these technologies is still underinvestigated. By reviewing the literature, this paper aims to provide a definition and a conceptual framework, which systematize the smart circular economy paradigm as an industrial system that uses digital technologies during the product life-cycle phases to implement circular strategies and practices aimed at value creation. Following this conceptualization, the classical, underlying circular economy principle, ‘waste equals food’, is reshaped into an equation more fitting for the digital age-that is to say, ‘waste + data = resource’. Lastly, this paper provides promising research directions to further develop this field. To advance knowledge on the smart circular economy paradigm, researchers and practitioners are advised to: (i) develop research from exploratory and descriptive to confirmatory and prescriptive purposes, relying on a wide spectrum of research methodologies; (ii) move the focus from single organizations to the entire ecosystem and value chain of stakeholders; (iii) combine different enabling digital technologies to leverage their synergistic potential; and (iv) assess the environmental impact of digital technologies to prevent potential rebound effects.

Place, publisher, year, edition, pages
MDPI, 2022. Vol. 14, no 9, article id 4960
Keywords [en]
circular economy, digitalization, industry 4, 0, literature review, business models, sustainability
National Category
Business Administration
Research subject
Entrepreneurship and Innovation
Identifiers
URN: urn:nbn:se:ltu:diva-90796DOI: 10.3390/su14094960ISI: 000794677700001Scopus ID: 2-s2.0-85129182761OAI: oai:DiVA.org:ltu-90796DiVA, id: diva2:1662171
Funder
Swedish Research Council Formas, 2018-01417Swedish Energy Agency, 52742-1
Note

Validerad;2022;Nivå 2;2022-05-31 (johcin);

Funder: Research Council of Norway (326087)

Available from: 2022-05-31 Created: 2022-05-31 Last updated: 2022-05-31Bibliographically approved

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Parida, Vinit

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