IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/bla/bstrat/v30y2021i2p1213-1231.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Industry 4.0 and circular economy: An exploratory analysis of academic and practitioners' perspectives

Author

Listed:
  • Maurizio Massaro
  • Silvana Secinaro
  • Francesca Dal Mas
  • Valerio Brescia
  • Davide Calandra

Abstract

The union between Industry 4.0 and the circular economy (CE) appears relatively recent. In this sense, new trading zones for sharing a common scenario among academics and practitioners are needed. The paper aims to investigate the link between Industry 4.0 and the CE by understanding how Industry 4.0 can foster the impact of the CE on companies. The study proposes a broader perspective that includes thematic and content analysis gathering data on professional documents based on business cases, newspaper articles, press releases and specialised blogs, as well as scientific papers. The joint academic‐practitioners view highlights how Industry 4.0 has the potential to impact on the CE through countless actions: increasing waste disposal; promoting remanufacturing; enhancing the efficiency of critical resources such as water, energy, gas and CO2; and improving business models and the mission of companies. However, barriers still exist in its adoption, stressing the need for holistic and integrated design and a proactive environment of collaboration among stakeholders. Results lead to practical as well as research implications.

Suggested Citation

  • Maurizio Massaro & Silvana Secinaro & Francesca Dal Mas & Valerio Brescia & Davide Calandra, 2021. "Industry 4.0 and circular economy: An exploratory analysis of academic and practitioners' perspectives," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 1213-1231, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:30:y:2021:i:2:p:1213-1231
    DOI: 10.1002/bse.2680
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://doi.org/10.1002/bse.2680
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1002/bse.2680?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Carlo Bagnoli & Francesca Dal Mas & Maurizio Massaro, 2019. "The 4th Industrial Revolution: Business Models and Evidence From the Field," International Journal of E-Services and Mobile Applications (IJESMA), IGI Global, vol. 11(3), pages 34-47, July.
    2. Nancy E. Landrum & Brian Ohsowski, 2018. "Identifying Worldviews on Corporate Sustainability: A Content Analysis of Corporate Sustainability Reports," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(1), pages 128-151, January.
    3. Walter R. Stahel, 2016. "The circular economy," Nature, Nature, vol. 531(7595), pages 435-438, March.
    4. Prasanta Kumar Dey & Chrisovaladis Malesios & Debashree De & Pawan Budhwar & Soumyadeb Chowdhury & Walid Cheffi, 2020. "Circular economy to enhance sustainability of small and medium‐sized enterprises," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2145-2169, September.
    5. Maurizio Massaro & Francesca Dal Mas & Charbel Jose Chiappetta Jabbour & Carlo Bagnoli, 2020. "Crypto‐economy and new sustainable business models: Reflections and projections using a case study analysis," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(5), pages 2150-2160, September.
    6. Li‐Heng Chen & Peiying Hung & Hwong‐wen Ma, 2020. "Integrating circular business models and development tools in the circular economy transition process: A firm‐level framework," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(5), pages 1887-1898, July.
    7. Culot, Giovanna & Nassimbeni, Guido & Orzes, Guido & Sartor, Marco, 2020. "Behind the definition of Industry 4.0: Analysis and open questions," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 226(C).
    8. Paul, Justin & Criado, Alex Rialp, 2020. "The art of writing literature review: What do we know and what do we need to know?," International Business Review, Elsevier, vol. 29(4).
    9. Owais Khan & Tiberio Daddi & Fabio Iraldo, 2020. "Microfoundations of dynamic capabilities: Insights from circular economy business cases," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(3), pages 1479-1493, March.
    10. Jafari Sadeghi, Vahid & Biancone, Paolo Pietro, 2018. "How micro, small and medium-sized enterprises are driven outward the superior international trade performance? A multidimensional study on Italian food sector," Research in International Business and Finance, Elsevier, vol. 45(C), pages 597-606.
    11. Kamala kanta Muduli & Sunil Luthra & Sachin Kumar Mangla & Charbel Jose Chiappetta Jabbour & Satyabrata Aich & Julio Cesar Ferro de Guimarães, 2020. "Environmental management and the “soft side” of organisations: Discovering the most relevant behavioural factors in green supply chains," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(4), pages 1647-1665, May.
    12. Basil P. Tucker & Alan D. Lowe, 2014. "Practitioners are from Mars; academics are from Venus?," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 27(3), pages 394-425, February.
    13. Matino, Ismael & Colla, Valentina & Baragiola, Stefano, 2017. "Quantification of energy and environmental impacts in uncommon electric steelmaking scenarios to improve process sustainability," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 207(C), pages 543-552.
    14. Paolo Rosa & Claudio Sassanelli & Andrea Urbinati & Davide Chiaroni & Sergio Terzi, 2020. "Assessing relations between Circular Economy and Industry 4.0: a systematic literature review," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 58(6), pages 1662-1687, March.
    15. Marcos Ferasso & Tatiana Beliaeva & Sascha Kraus & Thomas Clauss & Domingo Ribeiro‐Soriano, 2020. "Circular economy business models: The state of research and avenues ahead," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3006-3024, December.
    16. Stefano Poponi & Gabriella Arcese & Enrico Maria Mosconi & Michelangelo Arezzo di Trifiletti, 2020. "Entrepreneurial Drivers for the Development of the Circular Business Model: The Role of Academic Spin-Off," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-17, January.
    17. Pasquale Pazienza & Caterina De Lucia, 2020. "The EU policy for a plastic economy: Reflections on a sectoral implementation strategy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(2), pages 779-788, February.
    18. Maurizio Massaro & John Dumay & James Guthrie, 2016. "On the shoulders of giants: undertaking a structured literature review in accounting," Accounting, Auditing & Accountability Journal, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 29(5), pages 767-801, June.
    19. Vondra, Marek & Touš, Michal & Teng, Sin Yong, 2019. "Digestate Evaporation Treatment in Biogas Plants: A Techno-economic Assessment by Monte Carlo, Neural Networks and Decision Trees," MPRA Paper 95770, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    20. Juana Camacho-Otero & Casper Boks & Ida Nilstad Pettersen, 2018. "Consumption in the Circular Economy: A Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(8), pages 1-25, August.
    21. Valentín Molina-Moreno & Pedro Núñez-Cacho Utrilla & Francisco J. Cortés-García & Antonio Peña-García, 2018. "The Use of Led Technology and Biomass to Power Public Lighting in a Local Context: The Case of Baeza (Spain)," Energies, MDPI, vol. 11(7), pages 1-12, July.
    22. Silvia Sarti & Filippo Corsini & Natalia Marzia Gusmerotti & Marco Frey, 2017. "Food sharing: Making sense between new business models and responsible social initiatives for food waste prevention," ECONOMICS AND POLICY OF ENERGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2017(1-2), pages 123-134.
    23. Kim, Namil & Lee, Hyeokseong & Kim, Wonjoon & Lee, Hyunjong & Suh, Jong Hwan, 2015. "Dynamic patterns of industry convergence: Evidence from a large amount of unstructured data," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 44(9), pages 1734-1748.
    24. A. Rebecca Reuber & Anna Morgan-Thomas, 2019. "Communicating Moral Legitimacy in Controversial Industries: The Trade in Human Tissue," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 154(1), pages 49-63, January.
    25. Willi Haas & Fridolin Krausmann & Dominik Wiedenhofer & Markus Heinz, 2015. "How Circular is the Global Economy?: An Assessment of Material Flows, Waste Production, and Recycling in the European Union and the World in 2005," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 19(5), pages 765-777, October.
    26. Maurizio Massaro & Carlo Bagnoli & Francesca Dal Mas, 2020. "The role of human sustainability in professional service firms. Evidence from Italy," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(6), pages 2668-2678, September.
    27. Trang Thi Pham & Tsai-Chi Kuo & Ming-Lang Tseng & Raymond R. Tan & Kimhua Tan & Denny Satria Ika & Chiuhsiang Joe Lin, 2019. "Industry 4.0 to Accelerate the Circular Economy: A Case Study of Electric Scooter Sharing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(23), pages 1-16, November.
    28. Mohamed Ben-Daya & Elkafi Hassini & Zied Bahroun, 2019. "Internet of things and supply chain management: a literature review," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 57(15-16), pages 4719-4742, August.
    29. Zacharoula Andreopoulou, 2017. "Internet of Things and food circular economy: A new tool for Sustainable Development Goals," RIVISTA DI STUDI SULLA SOSTENIBILITA', FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2017(2), pages 43-49.
    30. Carlo Bagnoli & Maurizio Massaro & Francesca Dal Mas & Matteo Demartini, 2018. "Defining The Concept Of Business Model: Searching For A Business Model Framework," International Journal of Knowledge and Systems Science (IJKSS), IGI Global, vol. 9(3), pages 48-64, July.
    31. Xue, Jingyan & Liu, Gengyuan & Casazza, Marco & Ulgiati, Sergio, 2018. "Development of an urban FEW nexus online analyzer to support urban circular economy strategy planning," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 164(C), pages 475-495.
    32. Mehdi Amini & Carol C. Bienstock & John A. Narcum, 2018. "Status of corporate sustainability: a content analysis of Fortune 500 companies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 27(8), pages 1450-1461, December.
    33. Silvana Secinaro & Valerio Brescia & Davide Calandra & Buerhan Saiti, 2020. "Impact of climate change mitigation policies on corporate financial performance: Evidence‐based on European publicly listed firms," Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 27(6), pages 2491-2501, November.
    34. Piera Centobelli & Roberto Cerchione & Davide Chiaroni & Pasquale Del Vecchio & Andrea Urbinati, 2020. "Designing business models in circular economy: A systematic literature review and research agenda," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(4), pages 1734-1749, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Giacosa, Elisa & Crocco, Edoardo & Kubálek, Jan & Culasso, Francesca, 2024. "Additive manufacturing in international business: Bridging academic and practitioners' perspectives," Journal of International Management, Elsevier, vol. 30(3).
    2. Shang, Yuping & Raza, Syed Ali & Huo, Zhe & Shahzad, Umer & Zhao, Xin, 2023. "Does enterprise digital transformation contribute to the carbon emission reduction? Micro-level evidence from China," International Review of Economics & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 86(C), pages 1-13.
    3. Secinaro, Silvana & Calandra, Davide & Lanzalonga, Federico & Ferraris, Alberto, 2022. "Electric vehicles’ consumer behaviours: Mapping the field and providing a research agenda," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 399-416.
    4. Govindan, Kannan, 2023. "How digitalization transforms the traditional circular economy to a smart circular economy for achieving SDGs and net zero," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    5. Dal Mas, F. & Massaro, M. & Ndou, V. & Raguseo, E., 2023. "Blockchain technologies for sustainability in the agrifood sector: A literature review of academic research and business perspectives," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    6. Virmani, Naveen & Sharma, Shikha & Kumar, Anil & Luthra, Sunil, 2023. "Adoption of industry 4.0 evidence in emerging economy: Behavioral reasoning theory perspective," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Ahmad, Farhan & Bask, Anu & Laari, Sini & Robinson, Craig V., 2023. "Business management perspectives on the circular economy: Present state and future directions," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    2. Luca Marrucci & Fabio Iannone & Tiberio Daddi & Fabio Iraldo, 2022. "Antecedents of absorptive capacity in the development of circular economy business models of small and medium enterprises," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(1), pages 532-544, January.
    3. Dal Mas, F. & Massaro, M. & Ndou, V. & Raguseo, E., 2023. "Blockchain technologies for sustainability in the agrifood sector: A literature review of academic research and business perspectives," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    4. Eleonora Di Maria & Valentina De Marchi & Ambra Galeazzo, 2022. "Industry 4.0 technologies and circular economy: The mediating role of supply chain integration," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(2), pages 619-632, February.
    5. Ida K. Rovanto & Anu Bask, 2021. "Systemic circular business model application at the company, supply chain and society levels—A view into circular economy native and adopter companies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 1153-1173, February.
    6. Nathalia Suchek & João J. Ferreira & Paula O. Fernandes, 2022. "A review of entrepreneurship and circular economy research: State of the art and future directions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2256-2283, July.
    7. Elizaveta Averina & Johan Frishammar & Vinit Parida, 2022. "Assessing sustainability opportunities for circular business models," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(4), pages 1464-1487, May.
    8. Manavalan Ethirajan & Thanigai Arasu M & Jayakrishna Kandasamy & Vimal K.E.K & Simon Peter Nadeem & Anil Kumar, 2021. "Analysing the risks of adopting circular economy initiatives in manufacturing supply chains," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(1), pages 204-236, January.
    9. Nagendra Kumar Sharma & Kannan Govindan & Kuei Kuei Lai & Wen Kuo Chen & Vimal Kumar, 2021. "The transition from linear economy to circular economy for sustainability among SMEs: A study on prospects, impediments, and prerequisites," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 1803-1822, May.
    10. Fabio Neves Puglieri & Rodrigo Salvador & Omar Romero‐Hernandez & Edmundo Escrivão Filho & Cassiano Moro Piekarski & Antonio Carlos de Francisco & Aldo Roberto Ometto, 2022. "Strategic planning oriented to circular business models: A decision framework to promote sustainable development," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(7), pages 3254-3273, November.
    11. Patricia van Loon & Luk N. Van Wassenhove & Ales Mihelic, 2022. "Designing a circular business strategy: 7 years of evolution at a large washing machine manufacturer," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(3), pages 1030-1041, March.
    12. Pina Puntillo & Carmela Gulluscio & Donald Huisingh & Stefania Veltri, 2021. "Reevaluating waste as a resource under a circular economy approach from a system perspective: Findings from a case study," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(2), pages 968-984, February.
    13. Marcos Ferasso & Tatiana Beliaeva & Sascha Kraus & Thomas Clauss & Domingo Ribeiro‐Soriano, 2020. "Circular economy business models: The state of research and avenues ahead," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 29(8), pages 3006-3024, December.
    14. Ángela Triguero & María C. Cuerva & Francisco J. Sáez‐Martínez, 2022. "Closing the loop through eco‐innovation by European firms: Circular economy for sustainable development," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2337-2350, July.
    15. Javeed, Sohail Ahmad & Akram, Umair, 2024. "The factors behind block-chain technology that boost the circular economy: An organizational perspective," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    16. Luigi Aldieri & Mohsen Brahmi & Bruna Bruno & Concetto Paolo Vinci, 2021. "Circular Economy Business Models: The Complementarities with Sharing Economy and Eco-Innovations Investments," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(22), pages 1-13, November.
    17. Simone Sehnem & Adriane A. Farias S. L. de Queiroz & Susana Carla Farias Pereira & Gabriel dos Santos Correia & Edson Kuzma, 2022. "Circular economy and innovation: A look from the perspective of organizational capabilities," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(1), pages 236-250, January.
    18. Davide Antonioli & Claudia Ghisetti & Massimiliano Mazzanti & Francesco Nicolli, 2022. "Sustainable production: The economic returns of circular economy practices," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2603-2617, July.
    19. Rita Mura & Francesca Vicentini & Ludovico Maria Botti & Maria Vincenza Chiriacò, 2024. "Achieving the circular economy through environmental policies: Packaging strategies for more sustainable business models in the wine industry," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 1497-1514, February.
    20. Arijit Bhattacharya & Shefali Srivastava & Abhijit Majumdar, 2024. "Circular supply chains in manufacturing—Quo vadis? Accomplishments, challenges and future opportunities," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(5), pages 4397-4423, July.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:bla:bstrat:v:30:y:2021:i:2:p:1213-1231. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Wiley Content Delivery (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1002/(ISSN)1099-0836 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.