IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/tefoso/v198y2024ics004016252300639x.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Drivers and barriers of smart technologies for circular economy: Leveraging smart circular economy implementation to nurture companies' performance

Author

Listed:
  • Truant, Elisa
  • Giordino, Daniele
  • Borlatto, Edoardo
  • Bhatia, Meena

Abstract

Smart circular economy (SCE) is a clear intersection between a circular economy (CE) and digital technologies (DTs), such as artificial intelligence (AI), blockchain, cyber-physical systems, big data, and the Internet of Things (IoT). The SCE notion is deemed useful for addressing myriad global issues and improving the sustainability performance of companies. Given the pressure to effectively address sustainability challenges and nurture firms' non-financial performance, SCE has seen a significant increase in academic research publications. Nevertheless, the diffusion of SCE practises has encountered many hurdles as the application of disruptive DTs poses significant challenges to companies. In addition, SCE faces the CE challenges too. The extant literature lacks a comprehensive investigation of scholarly articles on this topic. Therefore, this study investigates the drivers, enablers, and barriers to the diffusion of SCE. To fill this gap, we conducted an in-depth literature review of 87 articles gathered from Scopus, Web of Science (WoS), and Google Scholar for citation chaining. This systematic literature review (SLR) classified five clusters for barriers and drivers. Existing research gaps in SCE have been identified, and future research avenues have been developed to illuminate the nuances of SCE implementation and diffusion. Finally, this paper presents a theoretical conceptual framework.

Suggested Citation

  • Truant, Elisa & Giordino, Daniele & Borlatto, Edoardo & Bhatia, Meena, 2024. "Drivers and barriers of smart technologies for circular economy: Leveraging smart circular economy implementation to nurture companies' performance," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:tefoso:v:198:y:2024:i:c:s004016252300639x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.techfore.2023.122954
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S004016252300639X
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.techfore.2023.122954?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
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cui, Yongfeng & Liu, Wei & Rani, Pratibha & Alrasheedi, Melfi, 2021. "Internet of Things (IoT) adoption barriers for the circular economy using Pythagorean fuzzy SWARA-CoCoSo decision-making approach in the manufacturing sector," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 171(C).
    2. Alessandra Neri & Marta Negri & Enrico Cagno & Vikas Kumar & Jose Arturo Garza‐Reyes, 2023. "What digital‐enabled dynamic capabilities support the circular economy? A multiple case study approach," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(7), pages 5083-5101, November.
    3. Luthra, Sunil & Sharma, Manu & Kumar, Anil & Joshi, Sudhanshu & Collins, Eva & Mangla, Sachin, 2022. "Overcoming barriers to cross-sector collaboration in circular supply chain management: a multi-method approach," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 157(C).
    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. Rehman, Shafique Ur & Giordino, Daniele & Zhang, Qingyu & Alam, Gazi Mahabubul, 2023. "Twin transitions & industry 4.0: Unpacking the relationship between digital and green factors to determine green competitive advantage," Technology in Society, Elsevier, vol. 73(C).
    6. Kolade, Oluwaseun & Odumuyiwa, Victor & Abolfathi, Soroush & Schröder, Patrick & Wakunuma, Kutoma & Akanmu, Ifeoluwa & Whitehead, Timothy & Tijani, Bosun & Oyinlola, Muyiwa, 2022. "Technology acceptance and readiness of stakeholders for transitioning to a circular plastic economy in Africa," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 183(C).
    7. Yang, Li & Zou, Haobo & Shang, Chao & Ye, Xiaoming & Rani, Pratibha, 2023. "Adoption of information and digital technologies for sustainable smart manufacturing systems for industry 4.0 in small, medium, and micro enterprises (SMMEs)," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 188(C).
    8. Abderahman Rejeb & Karim Rejeb & John G. Keogh & Suhaiza Zailani, 2022. "Barriers to Blockchain Adoption in the Circular Economy: A Fuzzy Delphi and Best-Worst Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(6), pages 1-23, March.
    9. Nallapaneni Manoj Kumar & Shauhrat S. Chopra, 2022. "Leveraging Blockchain and Smart Contract Technologies to Overcome Circular Economy Implementation Challenges," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-18, August.
    10. Luoma, Päivi & Penttinen, Esko & Tapio, Petri & Toppinen, Anne, 2022. "Future images of data in circular economy for textiles," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    11. Shankar, Amit & Dhir, Amandeep & Talwar, Shalini & Islam, Nazrul & Sharma, Piyush, 2022. "Balancing food waste and sustainability goals in online food delivery: Towards a comprehensive conceptual framework," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 117(C).
    12. Chauhan, Chetna & Parida, Vinit & Dhir, Amandeep, 2022. "Linking circular economy and digitalisation technologies: A systematic literature review of past achievements and future promises," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    13. Satish Nambisan, 2017. "Digital Entrepreneurship: Toward a Digital Technology Perspective of Entrepreneurship," Entrepreneurship Theory and Practice, , vol. 41(6), pages 1029-1055, November.
    14. Fernando E. Garcia-Muiña & Rocío González-Sánchez & Anna Maria Ferrari & Lucrezia Volpi & Martina Pini & Cristina Siligardi & Davide Settembre-Blundo, 2019. "Identifying the Equilibrium Point between Sustainability Goals and Circular Economy Practices in an Industry 4.0 Manufacturing Context Using Eco-Design," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 8(8), pages 1-22, August.
    15. Alan Murray & Keith Skene & Kathryn Haynes, 2017. "The Circular Economy: An Interdisciplinary Exploration of the Concept and Application in a Global Context," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 140(3), pages 369-380, February.
    16. Henning Wilts & Beatriz Riesco Garcia & Rebeca Guerra Garlito & Laura Saralegui Gómez & Elisabet González Prieto, 2021. "Artificial Intelligence in the Sorting of Municipal Waste as an Enabler of the Circular Economy," Resources, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-9, March.
    17. M. De Souza & G.M. Pereira & Ana Beatriz Lopes de Sousa Jabbour & C.J. Chiappetta Jabbour & L.R. Trento & M. Borchardt & L. Zvirtes, 2021. "A Digitally Enabled Circular Economy for Mitigating Food Waste: Understanding Innovative Marketing Strategies in the Context of an Emerging Economy," Post-Print hal-04275962, HAL.
    18. Behl, Abhishek & Singh, Ramandeep & Pereira, Vijay & Laker, Benjamin, 2023. "Analysis of Industry 4.0 and circular economy enablers: A step towards resilient sustainable operations management," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 189(C).
    19. Dwivedi, Yogesh K. & Sharma, Anuj & Rana, Nripendra P. & Giannakis, Mihalis & Goel, Pooja & Dutot, Vincent, 2023. "Evolution of artificial intelligence research in Technological Forecasting and Social Change: Research topics, trends, and future directions," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    20. David J. Langley, 2022. "Digital Product-Service Systems: The Role of Data in the Transition to Servitization Business Models," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-17, January.
    21. Anish Kumar & Sachin Kumar Mangla & Pradeep Kumar, 2022. "Barriers for adoption of Industry 4.0 in sustainable food supply chain: a circular economy perspective," International Journal of Productivity and Performance Management, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 73(2), pages 385-411, February.
    22. Alkaraan, Fadi & Elmarzouky, Mahmoud & Hussainey, Khaled & Venkatesh, V.G., 2023. "Sustainable strategic investment decision-making practices in UK companies: The influence of governance mechanisms on synergy between industry 4.0 and circular economy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 187(C).
    23. Xianhai Meng & Simran Das & Junyu Meng, 2023. "Integration of Digital Twin and Circular Economy in the Construction Industry," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-14, September.
    24. Biman Darshana Hettiarachchi & Stefan Seuring & Marcus Brandenburg, 2022. "Industry 4.0-driven operations and supply chains for the circular economy: a bibliometric analysis," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 858-878, December.
    25. Dhir, Amandeep & Talwar, Shalini & Islam, Nazrul & Alghafes, Rasha & Badghish, Saeed, 2023. "Different strokes for different folks: Comparative analysis of 3D printing in large, medium and small firms," Technovation, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    26. Pim Krom & Laura Piscicelli & Koen Frenken, 2022. "Digital Platforms for Industrial Symbiosis," Journal of Innovation Economics, De Boeck Université, vol. 0(3), pages 215-240.
    27. Meier, Oliver & Gruchmann, Tim & Ivanov, Dmitry, 2023. "Circular supply chain management with blockchain technology: A dynamic capabilities view," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 176(C).
    28. R. Krishankumar & P. P. Amritha & K. S. Ravichandran, 2022. "RETRACTED ARTICLE: An integrated fuzzy decision model for prioritization of barriers affecting sustainability adoption within supply chains under unknown weight context," Operations Management Research, Springer, vol. 15(3), pages 1010-1027, December.
    29. Ana Beatriz Lopes de Sousa Jabbour & H. Latan & C.J. Chiappetta Jabbour & B.M.R.P. Seles, 2023. "Does Applying a Circular Business Model Lead to Organizational Resilience? Mediating Effects of Industry 4.0 and Customers Integration," Post-Print hal-04276026, HAL.
    30. Sandija Zeverte-Rivza & Laura Girdziute & Agnieszka Parlińska & Peteris Rivza & Anastasija Novikova & Ina Gudele, 2023. "Digitalisation in Bioeconomy in the Baltic States and Poland," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(17), pages 1-20, September.
    31. Chaudhary, Sanjay & Dhir, Amandeep & Ferraris, Alberto & Bertoldi, Bernando, 2021. "Trust and reputation in family businesses: A systematic literature review of past achievements and future promises," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 137(C), pages 143-161.
    32. F. Alkaraan & M. Elmarzouky & K. Hussainey & V.G. Venkatesh, 2023. "Sustainable Strategic Investment Decision-Making Practices in UK Companies: The Influence of Governance Mechanisms on Synergy between Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy," Post-Print hal-04435466, HAL.
    33. Nesrin Ada & Yigit Kazancoglu & Muruvvet Deniz Sezer & Cigdem Ede-Senturk & Idil Ozer & Mangey Ram, 2021. "Analyzing Barriers of Circular Food Supply Chains and Proposing Industry 4.0 Solutions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(12), pages 1-29, June.
    34. Moritz Böhmecke‐Schwafert & Marie Wehinger & Robin Teigland, 2022. "Blockchain for the circular economy: Theorizing blockchain's role in the transition to a circular economy through an empirical investigation," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(8), pages 3786-3801, December.
    35. Usama Awan & Robert Sroufe & Muhammad Shahbaz, 2021. "Industry 4.0 and the circular economy: A literature review and recommendations for future research," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 2038-2060, May.
    36. de Souza, Michele & Pereira, Giancarlo Medeiros & Lopes de Sousa Jabbour, Ana Beatriz & Chiappetta Jabbour, Charbel Jose & Trento, Luiz Reni & Borchardt, Miriam & Zvirtes, Leandro, 2021. "A digitally enabled circular economy for mitigating food waste: Understanding innovative marketing strategies in the context of an emerging economy," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 173(C).
    37. Kazancoglu, Yigit & Sagnak, Muhittin & Mangla, Sachin Kumar & Sezer, Muruvvet Deniz & Pala, Melisa Ozbiltekin, 2021. "A fuzzy based hybrid decision framework to circularity in dairy supply chains through big data solutions," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 170(C).
    38. Qinglan Liu & Longjian Yang & Miying Yang, 2021. "Digitalisation for Water Sustainability: Barriers to Implementing Circular Economy in Smart Water Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-28, October.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    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. Chauhan, Chetna & Parida, Vinit & Dhir, Amandeep, 2022. "Linking circular economy and digitalisation technologies: A systematic literature review of past achievements and future promises," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    2. Gnekpe, Christian & Plantec, Quentin, 2023. "Regulatory push-pull and technological knowledge dynamics of circular economy innovation," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 196(C).
    3. 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).
    4. Piccarozzi, Michela & Silvestri, Cecilia & Aquilani, Barbara & Silvestri, Luca, 2022. "Is this a new story of the ‘Two Giants’? A systematic literature review of the relationship between industry 4.0, sustainability and its pillars," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 177(C).
    5. Govindan, Kannan & Kannan, Devika & Jørgensen, Thomas Ballegård & Nielsen, Tim Straarup, 2022. "Supply Chain 4.0 performance measurement: A systematic literature review, framework development, and empirical evidence," Transportation Research Part E: Logistics and Transportation Review, Elsevier, vol. 164(C).
    6. Abderahman Rejeb & Karim Rejeb & Suhaiza Zailani & Yasanur Kayikci & John G. Keogh, 2023. "Examining Knowledge Diffusion in the Circular Economy Domain: a Main Path Analysis," Circular Economy and Sustainability,, Springer.
    7. Qinglan Liu & Adriana Hofmann Trevisan & Miying Yang & Janaina Mascarenhas, 2022. "A framework of digital technologies for the circular economy: Digital functions and mechanisms," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2171-2192, July.
    8. Yafeng Han & Tetiana Shevchenko & Bernard Yannou & Meisam Ranjbari & Zahra Shams Esfandabadi & Michael Saidani & Ghada Bouillass & Kseniia Bliumska-Danko & Guohou Li, 2023. "Exploring How Digital Technologies Enable a Circular Economy of Products," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-20, January.
    9. Huynh Evertsen, Phuc & Rasmussen, Einar & Nenadic, Oleg, 2022. "Commercializing circular economy innovations: A taxonomy of academic spin-offs," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    10. Yan Chen & Zijin Wang & Jaime Ortiz, 2023. "A Sustainable Digital Ecosystem: Digital Servitization Transformation and Digital Infrastructure Support," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(2), pages 1-16, January.
    11. Lukas Alexander Benz, 2022. "Critical Success Factors for Circular Business Model Innovation from the Perspective of the Sustainable Development Goals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-18, May.
    12. Tan, Fuqiang & Zhang, Qingyu & Mehrotra, Ankit & Attri, Rekha & Tiwari, Himanshi, 2024. "Unlocking venture growth: Synergizing big data analytics, artificial intelligence, new product development practices, and inter-organizational digital capability," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    13. Madanaguli, Arun & Sjödin, David & Parida, Vinit & Mikalef, Patrick, 2024. "Artificial intelligence capabilities for circular business models: Research synthesis and future agenda," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 200(C).
    14. Nadia Yusuf & Miltiadis D. Lytras, 2023. "Competitive Sustainability of Saudi Companies through Digitalization and the Circular Carbon Economy Model: A Bold Contribution to the Vision 2030 Agenda in Saudi Arabia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(3), pages 1-20, February.
    15. Luoma, Päivi & Penttinen, Esko & Tapio, Petri & Toppinen, Anne, 2022. "Future images of data in circular economy for textiles," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 182(C).
    16. Luca Adami & Marco Schiavon, 2021. "From Circular Economy to Circular Ecology: A Review on the Solution of Environmental Problems through Circular Waste Management Approaches," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(2), pages 1-20, January.
    17. Aro, Joerabell Lourdes & Selerio, Egberto & Evangelista, Samantha Shane & Maturan, Fatima & Atibing, Nadine May & Ocampo, Lanndon, 2022. "Fermatean fuzzy CRITIC-CODAS-SORT for characterizing the challenges of circular public sector supply chains," Operations Research Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 9(C).
    18. Usama Awan & Robert Sroufe & Muhammad Shahbaz, 2021. "Industry 4.0 and the circular economy: A literature review and recommendations for future research," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(4), pages 2038-2060, May.
    19. Marco Pesce & Ilaria Tamai & Deyan Guo & Andrea Critto & Daniele Brombal & Xiaohui Wang & Hongguang Cheng & Antonio Marcomini, 2020. "Circular Economy in China: Translating Principles into Practice," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(3), pages 1-31, January.
    20. Laura Montag, 2023. "Circular Economy and Supply Chains: Definitions, Conceptualizations, and Research Agenda of the Circular Supply Chain Framework," Circular Economy and Sustainability,, Springer.

    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:eee:tefoso:v:198:y:2024:i:c:s004016252300639x. 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: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/journal/00401625 .

    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.