Introducing an application of an industry 4.0 solution for circular supply chain management

In recent years, sustainable supply chain management practices have been adopted by companies that desire to reduce the negative environmental and social impacts within their supply chains. Within this perspective, a circular approach has been developed in the supply chain literature. Circular economy models and solutions assisted by industry 4.0 technologies have been developed to transform products in the end of their life cycle into new products with different use. In this paper an industry 4.0 waste-to-energy solution is developed and applied in a pilot case study comprised by a real-world supply chain to evaluate the sustainability performance of circular supply chain management (CSCM). The findings show that redesigning supply chains for circular economy with the use of Industry 4.0 technologies, can enable circular supply chain management. Clear benefits are provided linking the proposed solution to the six circular economy dimensions of the ReSOLVE model i.e. regenerate, share, optimise, loop, virtualise, and exchange. Improved availability of personnel (5% and 15%) and fleet resources (15%) are identified as some of the key quantitative benefits, while supply chain traceability through the full visibility and automation offered by the proposed solution, are some of the key non-quantifiable outcomes. The present work seeks to contribute to the existing literature by providing empirical evidence of how industry 4.0 and circular economy are applied in practice. Implications for managers and policy makers, along with the study limitations and further research paths are also presented.