Progress and trends in integrating Industry 4.0 within circular economy: a comprehensive literature review and future research propositions

Society is facing many challenges, including, climate change, COVID, inequity and human population growth. Some researchers suggest that integration of Circular Economy (CE) and Industry 4.0 (I4.0) concepts and approaches can help us to make progress toward sustainable societies. Integrated implementation can help to improve the design of product-service systems focused on prevention and reduction of wastage of materials, energy, human health, and ecosystems. The CE practices enable consumers to return products after use and to reuse the products with more value. Will integrated adoption of CE and I4.0 practices help society to be more sustainable? What is known about the climate change benefits of integration of I4.0 and CEs to reduce energy and resource usage?’ The authors sought to answer these questions, via a systematic bibliometric literature review, and network analysis of literature on I4.0 and CE for logistics and supply chain applications. The review was performed by searching the SCOPUS database for literature about I4.0 and CE. A total of 165 articles was shortlisted for in-depth review. The literature review was complimented by bibliometric and network analyses. The review provided insights into the present and future trends in integration of I4.0 and related Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools in CE’s. Based on the findings, a framework for integrating I4.0 and CE, was developed to guide CE decision-making that will help researchers and industrialists, integrate I4.0 tools within CEs to improve logistics, resource efficiency, safety, product quality, and reduce fossil-carbon footprints