IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/tprsxx/v61y2023i24p8692-8718.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

The application of blockchain technology in the recycling chain: a state-of-the-art literature review and conceptual framework

Author

Listed:
  • Shenghao Xie
  • Yu Gong
  • Martin Kunc
  • Zongguo Wen
  • Steve Brown

Abstract

More practitioners are embracing blockchain technology to improve recycling performance. However, current research on the use of blockchain is mostly confined to general discussions on sustainable supply chains and circular economy, with limited studies specifically focusing on the recycling chain. This paper conducts a thorough content-based review of the literature related to the application of blockchain technology in the recycling chain with the objective to identify a conceptual framework. Although descriptive and thematic analyses show limited developments, blockchain technology can offer four distinct functions in the recycling chain: transparency, integration, behaviour channelisation, and service transformation. The adoption of blockchain in this area has technical, organisational, and environmental limitations that have not been overcome yet. In terms of benefits, blockchain technology improves recycling performance in terms of cost, dependability, flexibility, sustainability, and risk reduction. To summarise the findings, the paper proposes a novel conceptual framework for blockchain implementations in the recycling chain to support practitioners and guide scholars in further blockchain technology exploration.

Suggested Citation

  • Shenghao Xie & Yu Gong & Martin Kunc & Zongguo Wen & Steve Brown, 2023. "The application of blockchain technology in the recycling chain: a state-of-the-art literature review and conceptual framework," International Journal of Production Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 61(24), pages 8692-8718, December.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:tprsxx:v:61:y:2023:i:24:p:8692-8718
    DOI: 10.1080/00207543.2022.2152506
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00207543.2022.2152506
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.

    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00207543.2022.2152506?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.

    Citations

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


    Cited by:

    1. Zhitao Xu & Adel Elomri & Roberto Baldacci & Laoucine Kerbache & Zhenyong Wu, 2024. "Frontiers and trends of supply chain optimization in the age of industry 4.0: an operations research perspective," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 338(2), pages 1359-1401, 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:taf:tprsxx:v:61:y:2023:i:24:p:8692-8718. 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.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using 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: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/TPRS20 .

    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.