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CIRCULAR ECONOMY AND DIGITAL TECHNOLOGIES: A REVIEW OF THE CURRENT RESEARCH STREAMS

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 July 2021

Adriana Hofmann Trevisan ,
Isabela Simões Zacharias ,
Qinglan Liu ,
Miying Yang  and
Janaina Mascarenhas
Adriana Hofmann Trevisan
Affiliation:
São Carlos School of Engineering, University of São Paulo, Department of Production Engineering, São Carlos, Brazil
Isabela Simões Zacharias
Affiliation:
São Carlos School of Engineering, University of São Paulo, Department of Production Engineering, São Carlos, Brazil
Qinglan Liu
Affiliation:
College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Science, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
Miying Yang
Affiliation:
College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Science, University of Exeter, Exeter, UK
Janaina Mascarenhas*
Affiliation:
São Carlos School of Engineering, University of São Paulo, Department of Production Engineering, São Carlos, Brazil
*
Mascarenhas, Janaina, University of São Paulo, Department of Production Engineering, Brazil, jana.mascarenhas@usp.br

Abstract

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The interest in the Circular Economy (CE) has grown in recent years. Digital technologies (DTs) have demonstrated a potential synergy to achieve circular goals at the micro, meso, and macro-level. Although several studies in literature explore DTs and CE linkage, they have not been identified according to their primary research themes. This paper aims to identify the main research streams addressing CE and DTs. From a Systematic Literature Review and Content Analysis, we reviewed 40 articles and classified three primary research streams. (1) Industry 4.0 (I4.0) focuses on the relevance and role of I4.0 in the transition to a CE. (2) The Business research stream evaluated the connection between digital transformation and business. (3) The Sustainability research stream discusses sustainability issues such as waste management and smart cities. Based on the analyzed studies' purposes and gaps, we provide a research agenda for further research. Additionally, we explain the implications of DTs and CE to research on engineering design. Our paper guides researchers in their future research to focus on gaps that have not been answered and position their studies according to their research streams.

Keywords

Circular economySustainabilityIndustry 4.0Business models and considerations
Type
Article
Information
Proceedings of the Design Society , Volume 1: ICED21 , August 2021 , pp. 621 - 630
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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