India’s Transition to a Circular Economy Towards Fulfilling Agenda 2030: A Critical Review

Abstract

Globally, economies are experiencing a paradigm shift from linear production practices (make–use–dispose) towards circular economy (CE) pathways as critical development strategies to achieve Agenda 2030. In the context of the progressive shift to CEs, we critically review extant literature to comprehend the trends and constraints concerning the adoption of CE practices, with a primary focus on India. Our review reveals the growing body of literature encompassing a range of CE practices prevalent in multiple domains globally. We also discuss the emergent trends and patterns in adopting CE across sectors in India. Our study also confirms that implementing the transition to CE with ad hoc policies or as a tactical response to external or internal stimuli is unsustainable; instead, it necessitates organisational agility and strategic collaboration among stakeholders. We also identify consumer perceptions and economic feasibility as the most significant criteria determining the institutionalisation of CE. Further, responding to calls for an investigation into the CE in small and medium enterprises in India, we present a conceptual framework that can enable a non-disruptive transition towards CE. This framework discusses the interlinkages of the above objectives and underscores the need for collaborative efforts from all stakeholders towards a sustainable CE. When practices align with these objectives, firms can successfully manage low environmental impacts while enhancing their economic relevance and social responsibility. The paper also adds to the ongoing investigations into the intersection of the Circular Economy (CE) and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by outlining both direct connections (SDG 12) and indirect relationships (SDGs 2, 6, 8, and 13) among the three key pillars of CE: society, environment, and economy.

1. Introduction

Circular economy (CE) emerged as a concept in response to the environmental degradation and resource scarcity challenges caused by the traditional production systems, often called a linear economy that follows a ‘take–make–dispose’ model. Historically, the roots of CE can be traced back to the 1960s, when concerns of ‘environmentalism’ grew in opposition to the global environmental crisis emanating from linear growth models [1]. The CE model may help to minimise waste and maximise the reuse of resources, thereby creating a more sustainable economic system [2].

Economic sectors, particularly those using critical natural resources, are adopting wide-ranging policies and practices as part of the global imperative to transition to a circular economy (CE). The case for the wide-scale adoption of CE approaches and practices globally and locally emanates from the UN SDG Agenda 2030 [3]. The CE is closely aligned with several SDGs, including responsible consumption and production (SDG 12), sustainable cities and communities (SDG 11), and climate action (SDG 13) [4]. For example, while the European Union’s CE Action Plan aims to transition to a circular model, contributing to the fulfilment of several SDGs [5], the UAE has implemented policies to accelerate CE in the manufacturing and food sectors, which are crucial for achieving many SDGs [6].

Further, the United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) considers CE as “a new way of creating value, and ultimately prosperity, through extending product lifespan and relocating waste from the end of the supply chain to the beginning—in effect, using resources more efficiently by using them more than once.” CE principles represent a paradigm shift from the linear economy by minimising or mitigating the adverse environmental consequences of development activities, reducing resource waste, and achieving efficiency throughout the product life cycle. Generally, CE provides a unique method for creating value through innovative consumption and production activities and investing in sustainable practices. CE entails extending the product’s life through design modifications, better servicing, and minimising waste by recycling or reusing resources. Material recovery and resource use efficiency are aided by reusing, recycling, or re-manufacturing waste materials and products. Thus, CE practices also offer sustainable solutions to the global waste management crisis and help to considerably reduce or even mitigate greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Though the phrase ‘circular economy’ was first used in the early 1990s in debates over international development grand schemes, it received global acceptance only after the UN SDG Agenda 2030 was declared. Understandably, most advanced economies have probably moved further in this direction through the enactment of statutes and stricter compliance with extended producer responsibility (EPR) regulations. These efforts have also caused many countries and companies to shift their financial responsibilities and commitments toward dealing with the complex problems of waste management, especially electronic waste.

India has also made significant progress in integrating CE principles through various governmental initiatives, like the Smart Cities Mission (2015), Make in India (2014), and Swachh Bharat Mission (2014). These programs aim to incorporate smart practices, such as waste management and e-governance, to facilitate a circular transition [7].

Technically, the core principles of CE encompass a wide range of sectors and activities, dividing them into several production and consumption patterns that mutually reinforce each other [8,9]. They are (a) sustainable procurement, i.e., designing and implementing responsible purchasing policies; (b) eco-design, i.e., minimising environmental effects throughout the lifecycle of a product and service; (c) industrial and territorial ecology, i.e., achieving eco-industrial synergies by turning scrap from one company into raw material for another company; (d) economic functionality fostering a shared economy; (e) responsible consumption, aligning rational choices with social and ecological considerations; (f) augmenting the product’s life through reuse, repurposing, and repair; and (g) recycling, i.e., treating and recovering materials from the waste collected.

However, CE is still in its formative stages of evolution, leading to ambiguities regarding the widespread promotion and adoption of CE practices worldwide, particularly in emerging economies such as India. Therefore, the lack of authentic information or data significantly constrains the measurement of the effects of adopting CE practices, particularly in developing economies. Nevertheless, several indicators indirectly help to assess the performance of the CE in various sectors for a reduction in carbon dioxide emissions, energy intensity, efficient resource recovery from industrial activities, recycling of solid wastes and wastewater, shifting to renewable energy systems, etc. These existing measures can be used as indicator variables to measure circularity across economic and business sectors. For instance, the European Union (EU) proposes several indicators to measure the performance of activities in various areas that could potentially contribute to the circular economy (CE) [10]. These broadly relate to areas such as (a) sustainable resource management; (b) societal behaviour; and (c) business operations.

First, amongst the three broad activities, the indicators of sustainable resource management relate to the track record of EU nations in transitioning to a CE by reducing non-renewable resource utilisation and sustainable utilisation of renewable energy sources, thus augmenting resource conservation and mitigating environmental pressures locally and globally. Second, the indicators that reflect societal behaviour pertain to the engagement of citizens in CE activities, which include innovative consumption patterns such as the willingness to pay for, share, and participate in product–service systems, as well as the acceptance of durable products and re-use (for example, electronics and appliances) [11]. In other words, societal behaviour highlights the significance of altering one’s mindset or adopting new attitudes towards improved resource management and reducing harmful environmental effects. Third, businesses tend to perform as engines of CE transition and circularity in their operations, as indicated by eco-innovation activities such as changing and/or adopting innovative business models involving CE principles. Here, the major CE concerns are the life-cycle of the materials used, the types of materials used, the quality, and the product’s environmental and health standards.

According to the perspectives described, a strong CE action plan plays a crucial role in achieving the UN SDG Agenda. Such an action plan focuses on reducing resource demands, thereby enhancing resource security and reducing local and global environmental pressures.

1.1. Objectives, Data and Methods

Given the conceptual background discussed above, it is pertinent to investigate the understanding and adoption of CE practices in various sectors both globally and locally, particularly in India. Hence, this paper critically reviews the dynamic context of the global shift towards CE and explores the global research on CE to determine the direction in which industry sectors and businesses adopt CE practices and the barriers that constrain the shift to CE. This paper then examines the evolutionary trends in India regarding the CE transition. This paper also examines gaps in adopting CE practices and possible reasons for their non-adoption. This paper proposes a conceptual framework to establish an effective institutional mechanism for CE implementation in countries like India, serving as a sustainable pathway towards achieving the SDG agenda.

We present CE practices and assess the promotion, adoption, and impact of CE in the global and regional contexts of developed and emerging market economies, especially India. The literature review is based on journal articles from Scopus, Google Scholar, and Web of Science data sources, further segregated by country and major sectors.

1.2. Data, Methodology, and Approach

We study existing literature to gather insights into the current state of CE practices globally. As evident from the sample of articles listed in Table S1, the research on CE explores various angles, such as industry, geographic locations, the impact on global socio-economic programs, etc. We assess CE practices at the country level and their connections to sustainable business activities. Subsequently, we develop a conceptual framework to facilitate a CE transition in India, considering the impact on the achievement of specific SDGs from a long-term perspective. In this study, we conducted the literature review in five stages, which we detail below.

We sourced articles from different databases, viz., Scopus, Google Scholar, and the Web of Science, to explore and discuss the types and varieties of CE practices adopted across countries and sectors. The keywords used to search articles were “circular economy” and “circular economy practices”. We gathered articles that included the aforementioned phrases in their title, abstract, and keywords, and then analysed them based on their focus on the global adoption of CE practices across sectors.

We analysed sector- and region-specific CE practices, particularly in India, by reviewing journals mostly listed in the first quartile in Scopus. By doing this, we intended to cover research articles that have significantly contributed to the emerging area of circularity in terms of theoretical and practical applications. We limited the criteria for article selection to journal articles published in English. Figure 1 presents the framework for selecting articles from the Scopus database.

The paper is structured into five sections. Following this introduction, Section 2 delves into the current global literature on the emergence of CE and examines the diverse types of CE practices that countries are adopting. Section 3 presents an analysis of sector-specific CE practices with particular reference to India. Section 4 presents a framework for the assessment of the impact of CE, followed by a conclusion and policy recommendations in Section 5.

2. Emergence of Circular Economy: A Global Perspective

The CE concept, as discussed, is somewhat amorphous and awaiting an easily comprehended and appropriately encompassing definition [12]. According to a report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation [13], CE is most commonly defined as “an industrial economy that is restorative and regenerative by intention and design” [14]. Recognising that the supply of almost all resources is finite, businesses globally have sought to maximise resource utility by minimising waste and employing cheaper or alternative materials. However, it is a reasonable argument that such an approach could impact product quality and also may, as a consequence, increase costs. In this context, many firms have recognised CE as the most feasible method to ensure the optimal commercial viability of resources (e.g., IKEA, Renault, Philips, Tata Steel, ITC, JSW, Aditya Birla Group) [15,16,17,18,19,20]. Though CE as a business paradigm is relatively new, it has precursors in firms’ adoption of cleaner production strategies [21], strategies to reuse [22], remanufacture [23], and recycle [24]. Moreover, CE also encompasses waste management strategies, including hazardous waste [25].

The apparent scope of CE appears to align well with the 12th UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), i.e., “responsible consumption and production” [3], thus bringing both producers and consumers into the ambit of CE’s scope. Elkington proposes that this compels businesses to give due consideration to the triple bottom line of sustainability [26]. Current evidence indicates that majority of CE research focuses on the production sphere, perhaps due to the expectation that CE will rationalise the pace of resource usage [27]. According to Ghiselini [28], researchers have conducted CE research at three levels: micro, which involves individual firms; meso, which involves networks of firms; and macro, which encompasses regions, countries, and international areas. Acerbi and Taisch [21] investigate how circular manufacturing (CM) facilitates CE and find that most interrogations consider the micro-level, while the macro-level scenario remains the least researched. Contextually, they observe that multiple settings have investigated the economic and environmental aspects of CEs, but the social impact of CEs has received less research. While Human resource management (HRM) fosters the application and development of CE, its contribution remains under-researched [29]. While green HRM practices (GHRM) contribute to the sustainability of the CE, the development of the two streams (CE and GHRM) appears to have occurred independently, and the relationship between them remains inadequately studied [29]. Subramanian and Suresh expressed a similar opinion [30]. This is in contrast to other aspects of CE, such as economics [31], technology [32], managing resources [33], and operations management [34].

Though a relatively nascent concept, CE has already generated a significant body of literature that explicates it conceptually [12], discusses its prevalence and practice across domains [35,36], and focuses on certain aspects such as assessment methods [37], consumption of products generated from a CE [38], and innovations [39]. The existing literature also provides evidence of the CE in various segments, such as manufacturing [21], human resources [29], construction [40], and the urban water sector [41]. While identifying factors that catalyse and hinder CE implementation, it also indicates certain ‘ambivalent factors’ that could serve as either a catalyst or an inhibitor [42]. This last set of factors is context-dependent and includes regulatory interventions, firm-level culture, and resource availability. The evident necessity for business models distinct from the current linear models has prompted researchers [43] to explore alternative business models [44,45,46,47].

Researchers have conducted CE research using qualitative, quantitative, and mixed methods [42]. Among country-level research, China and the European Union (EU) dominate the literature [41]. Interestingly, it seems that the current research on the CE does not consistently base itself on established theories. Instead, each study applies a “theory” from the literature review and its relevance to CE [42]. However, the literature is not entirely devoid of theoretical perspectives driving research. Some scholars have employed the perspectives of institutional theory [48], theory of planned behaviour (TPB) [49], and combination of stakeholder theory and resource-based view [29] to frame their research. This implies that CE studies are often extremely contextual. However, due to its intrinsic connection to sustainability, we cannot treat CE solely based on geography or socio-cultural boundaries. Closed loops and other aspects of CE necessitate interlinking practices across geographies and industries.

Our review suggests that successful CE is a top-down process, starting with macro policies that empower stakeholders at the meso level to ensure appropriate implementation at the micro level. Further, it suggests that it is reasonable to expect that legislation can both support and hinder the transition process [50,51,52]. Regulations could be conducive to CE by proposing that energy prices reflect their potential environmental damage [53]. However, despite a favourable regulatory regime, inadequate technology could still impede the metamorphosis of business designs and processes [54]. In the same context, digital technology can also enable the CE in usage-focused business models, besides helping to mitigate the drawbacks of usage-focused business models [55]. These studies demonstrate how digital technologies help achieve the three value drivers of CE, viz., extending lifespan, closing the loop, and increasing resource usage efficiency. Cooper and Hammond [56] posit that the more business designs facilitate the recycling of products, the greater the possibility that consumers will make the effort to recycle the products they use. Along similar lines, Khan et al. [57] studied business designs that enable upgradability and concluded that they are conducive to CE. However, changing business designs requires cooperation and collaboration between diverse and dispersed stakeholders. This is not always easy. For example, research shows an absence of cooperation and holistic perspectives in value chains [58,59].

The above review demonstrates the integral role of social actors, i.e., organisational personnel and customers/consumers, in successfully establishing CE. After all, the best policies are laid waste if they remain on paper or if implementation is subverted to achieve suboptimal or self-serving results. Similarly, a CE may not be successful if the end users, i.e., customers, do not play their part. In this regard, Ranta et al. [60] found that consumers prefer first-use products to recycled ones. Urbinati et al. [61] suggest that a taxonomy of CE business models depends on appropriately addressing customer habits, preferences, and perceptions before transitioning to CE business models. Therefore, it is evident that, while technological innovations and processes significantly contribute to CE, the critical determining factor is the careful consideration of its social dimensions. Jabbour et al. [29] noted that the lack of attention to the role of GHRM practices in CE strategies has hampered the micro-level application of CE practices. Juxtaposing this observation alongside the social impact of CE remains under-researched; arguably, CE research on social aspects at a macro level needs more attention [21]. This would not only entail enacting policies that incentivise the adoption of a CE at both the meso and micro level, but would presumably also require macro-level interventions that explicate the rationale and benefits of a CE to social stakeholders. Similarly, treaties and agreements at an international level could overcome technological limitations.

Emerging countries like India should adopt a CE approach by collaborating with advanced economies to achieve sustainable waste management [13]. Strengthening research and development (R&D) capabilities, digital enablement, streamlining guidelines on extended producer responsibility (EPR), anti-dumping measures, stringent environment statutes, and increased application of green technologies in recycling wastes are successful enablers of sustainably managing waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) [62].

From the review presented above and other studies on CE, it is evident that the literature covers various aspects of applying CE practices in a broad spectrum of activities, such as agri-waste and agri-food system management [9]; bioeconomy and biomass energy [63,64]; industrial sectors, including construction [65], electronics manufacturing [66], coal, and petroleum refining [67]; household waste and municipal (urban) solid waste management [68]; e-waste and plastic waste management [69,70]; urban water and wastewater [71]; circular cities [72], etc.

3. Working of Circular Economy in India: A Sectoral View

The CE is envisioned as a critical pathway to attaining the SDGs. The multi-stakeholder framework of CE, which advocates for a collaborative approach to conservation, efficiency, and recycling of resources, is very conducive towards collaborative consumption. The objectives of many developing countries’ CE policies and efforts include the development of recycling infrastructure, fostering innovations, and promoting sustainable business models, particularly in sustainable product design. In this context, the remainder of this section delves into the current state and level of implementation of CE practices in both developed and emerging markets, with a specific focus on India.

Emerging economies such as India, with their potential to reconfigure supply networks and establish themselves as global manufacturing powerhouses, are likely to witness higher levels of material consumption due to rapid urbanisation, population growth, expanding industrialisation, and economic mobility. Although CE is a widely used approach in most developed countries, in India the knowledge about CE and its implementation is in its nascency [73]. India recovers and recycles just 20% of its raw material usage [74]. India’s traditional “take–make–waste” linear economic system seriously harms the environment and impedes its efforts to restructure its economy to achieve the SDGs. This can be efficiently managed only by shifting towards a circular approach and optimise resource utilisation. For India to achieve the development goals without jeopardising its resources, shifting the economy toward circularity is crucial. Recognising innovation ecosystems and the CE is crucial for systemic transformation in business and industry, promoting eco-innovation and advancing sustainable development [75]. The CE paradigm is gaining traction in India because of the country’s commitment to meeting the goals set by the 2030 Sustainable Development Agenda.

Due to rapid industrialisation, the country is facing massive waste management challenges. By generating 0.30 kg to 0.45 kg per capita daily, urban India alone produces approximately 0.15 million tonnes of MSW daily as of 2022. While waste generation is estimated to reach 165 million tonnes by 2031, it may reach 436 million tonnes by 2050 [76]. Recycling is a crucial component of the CE model, which enables closing the loop at the end of the product’s life cycle.

The proliferation of electronic and electrical gadgets, and the rapid expansion of information technology and globalisation, have witnessed explosive growth in emerging nations. With an estimated 3.23 million tonnes of electronic debris produced in 2019, India has risen to third place in the world’s e-waste production [77]. Kumar et al. [62] predict that India will produce 0.72 million tonnes of electronic waste annually by 2030. Due to supply chain constraints in managing e-waste, only one-third of the electronic and electric waste is currently processed by formal recyclers in India [77], while informal collectors of e-waste manage a significant proportion of e-waste. Nevertheless, informal e-waste processing is a major threat to sustainable environmental management in countries like India [77]. E-waste recovery and collection processes need to be streamlined in both formal and informal ways to ensure the sustenance of the e-waste industry in India. Focusing on developing policies for an efficient recycling system in India for products like end-of-life solar photovoltaic panels is critical for establishing a sustainable circular-based economy [78].

Adopting modern business models based on CE principles effectively reduces CO₂ emissions in emerging economies [79]. The concept of CE has emerged out of mounting awareness about environmental concerns, legislation, and impact assessments. However, many internal and external factors, such as the ineffective implementation of CE regulations, lack of financial and economic incentives, insufficient institutional support to promote CE practices, poor technical knowledge and skills, and a lack of CE mindset, affect the CE readiness of firms in developing economies [80,81]. Stakeholder attitudes, environmental commitment, societal pressure, and incentives for a green economy significantly impact the CE preparedness of micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in India [49].

Reducing waste and pollution with ongoing resource use, safeguarding the environment, and promoting a sustainable future for society are the main objectives of CE and crucial strategies for production and manufacturing companies in India [49]. For example, Tata Steel Ltd. established a steel recycling business (SRB) in 2021–2022. Its objective is to embed CE principles into the company’s operations by producing steel from recycled raw materials and thus, inter alia, reducing carbon emissions [82]. The SRB is expected to contribute significantly to SDGs 8 and 12 [82]. Network-building capabilities with organisational innovation, combined with top management support as a full mediator, contribute to a sustainable competitive advantage for firms [83]. Small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) embrace CE principles more quickly and creatively than larger companies [84]. In contrast, it is argued that the effective participation of SMEs in adopting CE practices in India is impossible as most of them are not fully organised and benefit less from government improvement programs. These firms adopt CE practices that are typically informal and disorganised, lacking a long-term strategy and vision [85]. Given the low awareness levels of CE in India, it is crucial to educate students, particularly engineering students, about sustainable economic and business practices and circularity models, and integrate them into the current syllabus [86].

In the following, we critically review the adoption status of CE practices across various sectors in India and potential sustainability linkages based on the existing literature. We classified the literature according to the industry/business sectors’ sectoral approaches to CE adoption in India and the range of CE practices they employ. The process entails a thorough review of previously published literature. Using “circular economy” as the search keyword, we first sourced review articles on CE from the Scopus database. We collated 658 review articles containing circular economy in the title or abstract, and at the second level, we filtered the review articles focusing on industry and region-specific CE practices, particularly in India, by reviewing publications primarily ranked in the first quartile of Scopus. There were 10 review articles focusing on sector-specific CE practices, with a particular emphasis on India [41,61,77,87,88,89,90,91,92,93].

Reviewing these studies revealed a dearth of review articles specifically addressing the application of CE practices in biomass-based energy production within the Indian context. Additional reviews on sustainability in this field focussing on its social, environmental, and economic aspects could provide valuable insights into the effective integration of CE principles into bio-energy production. It also becomes crucial to study the environmental aspects of key segments of waste management recovery in the Indian context, such as household waste, solid waste, and e-waste, and how they could contribute to sustainability. It is crucial for businesses seeking to align with CE goals and reduce their environmental impact to integrate reverse logistics. There are currently no review articles that address reverse logistics within India. Moreover, the existing review articles in the Indian context primarily concentrate on the key segments integral to the CE. The existing reviews lack an industry-based strategy for analysing the uptake of CE practices. It can also be observed that the existing reviews have not provided a comprehensive analysis of CE policies within the Indian context. It is vital to critically review the key policy areas that governments and organisations can consider when promoting energy efficiency and sustainability within a CE. Against this backdrop, the previous studies on sectors such as bio-energy, material, and energy recovery, remanufacturing and reverse logistics, industrial sectors, energy efficiency, and sustainable businesses that play crucial roles in advancing the principles of the circular economy have been reviewed below.

3.1. CE and Bio-Energy Sector

The substitution of traditional fuel for cooking and chemical fertilisers with organic fertilisers greatly aids rural India’s adoption of the CE [94]. The first set of five reviewed papers concentrated on applying CE principles in the bio-energy sectors (

Table 1. Application of CE principles in the bio-energy sector in India.

Citation No.	Application of CE Principles
[94]	Promoting organic alternatives for cooking and fertilisers; utilising crop and livestock residues in biogas plants.
[67]	Biorefineries act as alternatives to petrochemical refineries, utilising agri-biomass waste for value-added products.
[88,94,95]	Biorefineries offer a variety of value-added products from agri-biomass waste, particularly biogas/compressed bio-methane (CBM) gas.
[88]	Widespread promotion and adoption of CE guidelines in the bioenergy field by farm households can also have a positive environmental impact by reducing emissions from burning agri-waste.
[95]	Enhancing sewage treatment plants (STPs) with biofuel production for clean, self-sustaining operations. The revenue from biofuel production enables the STPs to transition to a clean technology-based CE domain, thereby becoming self-sustaining entities in the long run.
[96]	Supporting marginalised farmers and integrating institutional factors to address gaps in biomass-based energy systems.

).

3.2. CE Model for Waste Management and Material and Energy Recovery

India is expected to produce approximately 22 million tonnes of marble debris and 20 million tonnes of FGD gypsum by 2040. Converting marble waste and FGD gypsum into construction materials helps to achieve sustainability in the construction industry [97]. E-waste is a huge source of secondary raw materials. India is the second-largest generator of e-waste in the Asian continent and fourth-largest in the world [98]. Formal waste management systems are necessary to advocate for the establishment of organised collection, recycling technology, enhanced regulatory oversight, and mobile monitoring capabilities in construction and demolition waste management [99]. In India, industries such as the renewable energy sector [37] and the healthcare sector [100] pay little attention to adopting CE principles.

A set of 13 papers that we reviewed focused on various segments of waste management, ranging from the management of household wastes, municipal solid wastes (MSWs), and plastic waste (PW), to material recovery from e-waste [78,92,101,102,103,104,105,106,107,108,109,110,111,112,113] (

Table 2. Application of CE principles in waste management and material and energy recovery.

Citation	CE Principles
[78]	CE processing of end-of-life (EOL) solar PV panels enables material recovery. Forecasts indicate 2.95 billion metric tonnes of solar e-waste by 2047, with a potential 70% recovery rate using advanced CE recycling technologies.
[92]	CE-based waste management offers immense potential for stimulating green recovery and achieving SDGs.
[101]	Converting marble waste and FGD gypsum into construction materials to achieve sustainability in the construction industry.
[102]	Applying CE for managing municipal garbage in India, reducing residual waste generation. Identified 30 factors for CE application and nine critical success factors for implementation.
[103]	Establishing formal waste management systems with organised collection, recycling technologies, enhanced regulatory oversight, and mobile monitoring for construction and demolition waste.
[104]	Case studies demonstrate CE benefits for rural and urban communities in managing solid and electronic waste, improving sanitation, protecting the environment, generating income, and fostering cleaner community habits.
[106]	Achieving CE in India requires legislative frameworks, government support, best practices, plans, targets, and learning from cross-country experiences.
[105,107]	A system dynamics (SD) model demonstrates circular recycling of gold flakes from mobile phones, with nine simulated scenarios providing policy insights for CE in electronic waste. Nanotechnology has lately been employed to extract basic metals, hazardous metals, and precious metals from waste printed circuit boards (PCBs).
[108]	Waste management (WM) in India faces inefficiencies due to a silo mentality. Promoting CE-integrated WM practices through community education and awareness is crucial.
[109]	Explores the link between CE, waste management, and renewable energy. Government efforts and frameworks are essential to encourage circularity and sustainability.
[110]	Informal waste pickers in Delhi (India) and São Paulo (Brazil) contribute to recycling and closing the waste management loop. Organised cooperatives address waste challenges. A detailed analysis of their living conditions, potentials, and needs is essential for CE transformation.
[111]	Transitioning from a linear economy (take-make-use-dispose) to a circular model (reduce–reuse–recycle) requires reverse logistics, creative design, shared ecosystems, and innovative business models. Resource management flows across product value chains must align for CE success.

).

Research on waste-to-energy recovery shows a lack of integration with sustainable development (SD). Despite India’s commitment to achieving the SDGs, the current WM legislation for municipal, plastic, and e-waste lacks CE integration, necessitating major efforts to integrate CE principles into regulatory administration. To further support India’s efforts to achieve circularity and SD, it is essential to effectively incorporate WM and RE policies into the larger CE policy framework.

3.3. CE Through Remanufacturing and Reverse Logistics

This review also explores the integration of CE principles in remanufacturing and reverse logistics, focusing on the potential to transform industrial practices by promoting sustainability, economic resilience, and social well-being (

Table 3. Application of CE principles in remanufacturing and reverse logistics.

Citation	CE Principles
[112]	Studied consumers’ purchase intentions (PIs) towards refurbished products using a structural equation model (SEM). Identified factors influencing PI: market strategy, attitude, personal advantages, product knowledge, risk perception, and subjective norms. Emphasised the need for a positive consumer attitude towards remanufactured products through better product information dissemination.
[113]	Explored reverse logistics (RL) as a strategic tool for promoting CE and enhancing operational effectiveness. Identified obstacles such as a lack of management initiative and accountability, and proposed strategies such as customer education, utilising logistics networks, and effective warehousing to overcome them.

).

3.4. CE Practices as Applied by Industrial Sectors in India

A set of ten papers explored the application of CE principles and practices across various industrial and service sectors in India, such as small and medium-sized businesses [85]; the Ayurveda industry [84]; the cement industry [44]; heavy-duty and off-road vehicles [114]; making elastic products [115]; cleaning urban wastewater [41]; extracting nutrients from wastewater [116,117]; and other sub-sectors, like building, home energy use (domestic lighting), smart city projects [118], Biofuel etc. [96] (

Table 4. Application of CE principles in various industrial sectors in India.

Citation	CE Principles
[41]	Systematically reviews global CE adoption in the urban water sector, examining 6R principles (reduce, reuse, recycle, reclaim, recover, and restore). Identifies challenges in India’s water sector, including technological, economic, institutional, and social barriers. Opportunities include wastewater treatment, resource recovery, and decentralised wastewater collection for agricultural and industrial reuse.
[44]	The cement industry supports CE via circular supply chains and waste recovery. High-temperature incineration processes enable environmentally sustainable waste utilisation with no residue, contributing to CE in waste-generating industries.
[84]	Investigates SMEs’ capacity to adapt CE practices in emerging markets, focusing on the Indian Ayurveda industry. Emerging themes related to CE are identified, offering insights into causes, catalysts, and motivations for SMEs to support CE transitions.
[85]	The skewed structure of India’s SMEs poses challenges for CE adoption due to their informal nature and lack of institutional support. Promoting CE requires a culture of waste reduction, recycling, repairing, refurbishing, and reuse. Societal, technical, and environmental factors influencing CE are explored using the sociotechnical systems (STS) framework, highlighting key enablers and motivations for SMEs.
[96]	Promotes biofuel production from sewage treatment plants (STPs) as an alternative clean technology. Revenue from biofuel sales can finance STPs, advancing India’s CE transition.
[114]	CE adoption in heavy-duty and off-road industrial sectors impacts product design, planning, and control. The study explored circular business models and challenges in remanufacturing businesses. Industry 4.0 technologies significantly influence green procurement and remanufacturing processes, enhancing CE performance.
[115]	Proposes a product circularity assessment system, with a case study on elastic product manufacturing in Gujarat. Introduces the sustainable product circularity index (SPCI), evaluating circularity across environmental, economic, material, and sociological dimensions.
[116,117]	Highlights nutrient recovery from wastewater using techniques like ion exchange, microalgae production, and chemical precipitation. Discusses the potential of struvite as a phosphate fertiliser, reducing emissions and enhancing sustainability. Recovery from sewage can replace imports and reduce CO2 emissions by 663.2 kg/ha.
[118]	Examines CE opportunities in India’s Smart City Mission (SCM) using the ReSOLVE framework to map CE prospects in urban areas. Recommendations are provided for efficient CE implementation in SCM projects, aligning with sustainability goals.

).

The application of the aforementioned CE principles on a large scale, however, necessitates more detailed studies from a techno-economic and ecological viewpoint.

3.5. CE Policies for Energy Efficiency and Sustainable Businesses

To promote energy efficiency, the Indian Government’s Ministry of Environment, Forests, and Climate Change (MoEFCC) established the National Resource Efficiency Policy and the National Resource Efficiency Advisory Board (NREAB). The Board suggested implementing various action plans and strategies to address climate change, carbon emissions, resource recovery, and CE approaches across various sectors at the national level. This review explores the adoption of CE policies for sustainable and energy-efficient businesses in India (

Table 5. Adoption of CE policies for energy efficiency and sustainable businesses.

Citation	Adoption of CE Policies
[49]	Explores CE readiness of small firms using the expanded theory of planned behaviour (ETPB) model. Finds that mindset, societal pressure, environmental commitment, and economic incentives significantly influence CE adoption. Provides strategic insights to promote CE in small manufacturing businesses.
[103]	Reviews the current state of plastic waste (PW) management in India. Highlights inefficiencies in solid waste systems and the need for reverse supply chain management, better regulations, and EPR. Suggests policies to achieve SDGs and sustainable PW management.
[119]	Reviewed policies adopted by G20 nations for material efficiency in CE transitions, comparing India’s policies with those of China and Germany. Highlights India’s potential for increasing material productivity and engaging with G20 for resource efficiency measures.
[120]	Discusses integrating CE strategies into energy-efficient policies in India to address energy scarcity. Emphasises the need for legal reforms to restructure the power sector and promote clean renewable energy, ensuring universal clean energy access.
[121]	Examines the Paperman Foundation’s circularity-based business model for sustainable resource recovery from post-consumer plastics. Demonstrates the model’s impact on reducing CO2 emissions and emphasises scaling such CE business models in transitional economies, like India.

).

In summary, the review presented above offers new insights into the CE literature by providing a comprehensive global view, as well as an industry-based analysis of CE adoption in India, departing from traditional segment-focused approaches. This review also identifies the potential gaps in policy analysis and implementation, particularly in the Indian context, where CE knowledge and practice remain nascent despite increasing material consumption due to rapid growth induced by urbanisation and industrialisation. Through a rigorous two-level filtering methodology examining Scopus-indexed publications, the review uncovers critical research gaps in several domains: biomass-based energy production, environmental aspects of waste management recovery, reverse logistics integration in businesses, and the social dimensions of CE implementation at the macro level. This systematic examination is especially valuable given India’s current position, where only 20% of raw materials are recovered and recycled, highlighting the urgent need for policy frameworks that promote energy efficiency and sustainable business practices. This review’s holistic approach to understanding these challenges in an emerging economy context, combined with its methodological rigour, provides a foundation for future research and policy development in circular economy implementation in India and elsewhere.

4. Exploring Circular Economy Pathways to Achieve SDGs in India

The literature depicting the correspondence between CE practices and sustainable industrial or business outcomes enables us to draw useful insights regarding the contributions of CE towards the achievement of UN SDG Agenda 2030. Numerous studies highlight the significant connections between circularity and sustainability, underscoring the need to formulate strategies and pathways that align CE practices with specific SDG targets in India’s business and economic sectors. The development of these strategies and actions necessitates the development of a comprehensive framework (Figure 2) that combines the essential elements of an industrial or business ecosystem, encompassing a green system, with organisational and institutional facilitators, also known as ‘strategic enablers of CE’. These strategic enablers in turn help to create a CE ReSOLVE business model incorporating the core CE principles of (a) regeneration, (b) sharing, (c) optimisation, (d) loop (e) virtualisation, and (f) exchange. Such a ReSOLVE model can be directed to achieve specific SDG targets directly (SDG 12) and indirectly (e.g., SDG 2, SDG 6, SDG 8, and SDG 13). As also observed by Nair et al. [122], we consider it more efficient to focus on selected SDGs, rather than targeting all of them.

Castro et al. [123] found that external and internal factors, in combination, influence the transition to CE. We categorise these influences as strategic enablers of a circular economy. Further, we label the external and internal factors as green systems and organisational and institutional enablers, respectively. Functioning synchronously, they provide a foundation for the ReSOLVE model and positively impact SDG 12. In the following, we discuss the strategic enablers of the CE transition for India (for instance) in terms of green systems.

4.1. Strategic Enablers of Circular Economy: Green Systems

It is expected that green systems have the following critical aspects:

(a) 

Environmentally Friendly Sourcing: Due to regulatory requirements and stakeholder scrutiny, firms are increasingly pressurised to ensure environmentally friendly supply chains [124]. Therefore, choosing “green” suppliers becomes crucial for firms aiming to establish themselves as sustainable entities. Research has well-documented the positive impact of green suppliers on profitability and sustainability metrics [125,126]. While a considerable body of research has investigated various aspects of supplier selection from a sustainability perspective [57,127,128,129,130], it appears skewed against developing markets. Specifically, we concur with Ghosh et al.’s [124] cognisance of the need for a modus of selecting green suppliers in developing markets and find their suggested multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) framework appropriate to the context of this paper. Ghosh et al. [124] situated their study in India, and their MCDM framework considered the economic–social–environmental costs and benefits of supplier actions. The geographical context of their study led us to consider their supplier benchmarking modus a suitable starting point for organisations transitioning to CE in the Indian context.

(b) 

Eco-Focused Sustainable Operations: According to Kleindorfer et al. [130], sustainable operations involve integrating traditional efficiency measures with the environmental impact of a firm’s production operations. Of the three components of sustainable operations identified by [130], logistics decisions impact the aforementioned green supplier selection directly, and production/process decisions impact indirectly. Jabbour et al. [29] recommend the ReSOLVE model for organisations that seek to transition to CE. While they mapped the ReSOLVE model to the Internet of Things (IoT), we opine that this may be inappropriate in the context of developing markets, such as India. Further, we extend their model and posit that an eco-friendly focus is also required to ensure a more seamless fit with green supplier selection. However, we concur that technology and information systems are expected to play a significant role. Particularly in a developing market setting, we posit that achieving sustainable operations requires sharing information among players within the same industry. An association of industry members could maintain, for example, best CE practices, preferred sources of materials, pricing structures, sustainability programs, etc. in a database. These data could be made available to all registered members, which would help to ensure optimal synergising of sustainability operations across different firms.

Since small firms may not have the wherewithal to actively employ sustainable operations, we suggest that industry federations assist them in transitioning to such operations fostering circularity and sustainability. The federations could incentivise larger firms to “mentor and shepherd” the less endowed firms. In view of the institutional theory, we anticipate that firms will adapt their practices and processes to ensure their legitimacy as sustainable organisations.

(c) 

Green Reporting and Feedback Systems: Martin and Moser [131] reported that disclosing green activities leads to favourable investor reactions. Indeed, they discovered that managers, in response to investor reactions, would rather reveal the absence of any green investment than make no disclosure at all. This, along with the stakeholder and regulatory influences mentioned earlier, could explain the finding by KPMG that sustainability reporting has steadily increased over the years [132]. Therefore, it is suggested that consistent disclosures of measures taken by firms towards achieving CE would enhance the effectiveness of the ReSOLVE model. Martin and Moser’s [131] findings are based on voluntary disclosures in a developed market and therefore may not seem to be easily extendable to an emerging market with mandatory CSR disclosure. However, our position is justifiable because, firstly, compliance with mandatory disclosure requirements does not dilute the favourable disposition of investors. Further, if the mandatory requirements are buttressed with additional (hence, voluntary) information, it could still appeal to investors. Secondly, we posit that, in an increasingly globalised economy, such disclosures could be instrumental in attracting investments abroad.

Disclosures are contingent on the existence of feedback systems that provide relevant information. We suggest that industry federations/consortiums in India develop reporting and disclosure parameters that provide quality information to their stakeholders. This reiterates our earlier point about information systems being significant in transitioning to a CE. The data available at the firm level will need to be captured separately to enable, presumably, a variety of consolidations. Furthermore, such federations/consortiums should not restrict themselves to merely monitoring firms or becoming a repository of information. Rather, these institutions ought to be proactive in providing remedial assistance and recommending progressive directions.

4.2. Strategic Enablers of Circular Economy: Organisational and Institutional Enablers

We perceive organisational and institutional enablers to be based on an environment that facilitates:

(a)

Sustainability-Focused Culture: Extant circumstances demand that, to be successful, firms diligently put forth systematic efforts towards fostering an organisational culture that embraces sustainability at all levels [133]. Despite the widespread recognition of sustainability’s importance and relevance, developing markets often lag in its implementation. Altering this would most likely call for cultural change. Following prior literature [134,135], we suggest that demonstrating the significance that sustainability holds for organisations is a top-down (albeit non-linear) exercise. This entails a sustainability-focused culture to be visible from a firm’s mission statement through to its performance management modus. This implies that recruitment, training, appraisal, and retention policies and practices unequivocally spell out the firm’s commitment to sustainability. This is crucial because employee expectations have the potential to shape their attitudes, which could then infiltrate the organisational culture. Galpin et al. [133] suggest that employee engagement in the firm’s sustainability programs could also lead them to replicate this sentiment in their non-official social interactions as well. In that case, it is reasonable to expect that they will demonstrate this in an official milieu, which could have a favourable impact on green supplier selection and also encourage the transition to CE.

(b)

Empowered Teams: We suggest that teams empowered to initiate and implement sustainability and CE measures should supplement the integration of sustainability and CE aspirations into the organisational culture. If human resource (HR) policies are driven by the ethos of sustainability, it is reasonable to expect that employees will place trust in their ability to not only continue existing programs, but also take the initiative to institute new measures aligned with sustainability and CE. In the absence of empowered teams, despite the best intentions, an organisation is liable to significantly trail best practices. Corporate history is replete with examples of best-in-class companies falling behind the competition due to an inability to match metamorphosing circumstances. In contrast, companies that have incorporated circular economy principles have thrived. Globally, Patagonia stands out for its commitment to sustainability through initiatives like garment repair services and recycling programs, which have strengthened its market position and customer relationships [135]. India also presents several successful examples of companies and sectors embedding CE, facilitating significant business growth with sustainability. For instance, it is reported that Indian agribusiness companies have embraced circular economy (CE) principles by forming collaborative partnerships, designing products for longevity, minimising waste, promoting recycling, and enhancing resource efficiency. These initiatives are influenced by sociocultural, economic, technological, strategic, organisational, and supply chain factors [136]. Similarly, the Indian rubber industry employs a hybrid methodology integrating the analytic hierarchy process (AHP) with the grey-based ELECTRE technique to identify and address challenges in circular supply chain management (CSCM). This approach has helped the industry to prioritise its strategies to promote CE adoption [137]. It is also important that a transition to CE requires constant examination of the status quo, as well as systems that accommodate multiple paths of communication flows. This implies an agile organisation with an appetite for innovative and adaptive mindsets. Empowered teams form such an organisation and are arguably best-suited to achieve CE with a focus on sustainability.

(c)

Green Behaviour-Reinforcing Mechanisms: While this may seem like an extension or even repetition of the previous two cornerstones of organisational and institutional enablers, we intend it to imply a much wider scope. Here, the emphasis is not just on employee behaviour; rather, we envision an organisation that rewards and reinforces green behaviour throughout its value chain. This includes the supply chain. Thus, we support organisations that recognise and, probably, reward stakeholders’ measures towards CE. Once the corporate culture and team dynamics discussed earlier materialise, it is conceivable that inter-organisational collaborations will occur and that there will be spillovers of learning and experience. At this point, we argue that, as long as the long-term viability of the firm is not jeopardised, leadership ought not to be overly constrained by thoughts of porous confidentiality and potential weakening of tactical positioning. Martin and Moser [131] state that the pecuniary cost of investing in sustainability always exceeds the pecuniary benefit, but not necessarily the societal benefit. Considering the umbilical link between sustainability and CE, it is reasonable to extend the ambit of Martin and Moser’s [131] statement to include CE.

(d)

Stakeholder Environmental Stewardship: Our conception of environmental stewardship aligns with that of Bennett et al. [138], as they considered the influence of stakeholders on an organisation’s social impact (which we extend to include the impact of sustainability programs). We advocate the use of Bacq and Eddleston’s [139] framework as a template for policy developers and practitioners. The interdisciplinary scope of this framework, which incorporates evidence from studies in environmental stewardship, management, and governance, motivates our choice. Any organisation can likely adapt Bacq and Eddleston’s [139] framework, acknowledging that the context (socio-economic, politico-cultural, and environmental) shapes stakeholders whose motivations and abilities align with the organisation’s sustainability goals. We are aware that small firms may not have the wherewithal to actively employ sustainable operations and hence suggest that larger firms could assist them in transitioning to such operations. These larger firms could include such assistance in their CSR projects. Martin and Moser [131] use CSR disclosures to reach their conclusions, supporting our proposal to classify larger firms’ efforts to help smaller firms transition to CE as CSR.

As is evident from Figure 2, we focused on the meso and micro levels. We posit that the Green System gains relevance at the meso level (i.e., industry/sectoral), while the organisational and institutional enablers are more relevant at a micro level. Arguably, measures at the micro level are facilitated by conducive measures at the meso level. Our framework thus brings to the fore the need for collaborative partnerships between stakeholders. At a macro level, the Government of India (GoI) has launched many programmes aimed at integrating CE principles into the mainstream commercial milieu of the country. For example, the GoI announced a new scheme entailing the construction of 200 compressed biogas (CBG) production plants and 300 community-based facilities, specifically to promote CE. While we acknowledge Harris et al.’s [140] representation of macro considerations in Figure 2, it detracts from our core argument that, when it comes to MSMEs, the approach of “individual players” matters more than national policies and regulatory mechanisms. The preceding narrative suggests that a shift in consumer mindsets and the availability of commercially viable recycling facilities could catalyse the entrenchment of a CE in India.

The successful implementation of circular economy practices in India requires a multi-faceted approach that balances institutional support with organisational readiness. Key suggestions emerging from the above analysis include actionable measures, such as: establishing industry-led consortiums to facilitate knowledge sharing and best practices, particularly benefiting MSMEs that may lack resources; developing standardised, but sector-specific, reporting frameworks that align with international sustainability standards while accommodating India’s unique context; creating mentorship programs where larger enterprises support smaller ones in their CE transition through CSR initiatives; and implementing comprehensive stakeholder engagement strategies that reinforce green behaviour throughout the value chain. Critical lessons indicate that, while top-down policy support is essential, the real transformation happens at the meso and micro levels through empowered teams and sustainability-focused organisational cultures. The analysis also reveals that successful CE implementation requires moving beyond mere compliance to creation of value-driven initiatives where environmental stewardship becomes integral to business strategy. Furthermore, the integration of digital platforms and information systems emerges as a crucial enabler for tracking, reporting, and optimising circular practices, though their implementation should be calibrated to match the technological readiness of different industry sectors in India’s diverse business landscape.

5. Conclusions

Globally, industrial and business practices are undergoing a paradigm shift away from the linear production approach toward CE pathways as an essential strategy for achieving the 2030 agenda. This paper reviews the extant literature on CE to determine prevalent practices, future directions, and potential hurdles concerning the adoption of CE practices. Our review reveals the rapidly expanding scope of the burgeoning literature covering various aspects of circular practices in the global context. It may also be observed from the analysis (Section 3) that CE practices have been increasingly integrated into policies and business strategies for enhancing resource efficiency and sustainability. The CE Action Plan of the EU and UNIDO’s initiatives demonstrate global approaches towards CE transition. Evidently, the advanced economies leverage regulatory frameworks, innovations in technology, and stakeholder collaborations to drive the transition. Further examples of IKEA’s zero-waste initiatives and Philips’ recycling programs exemplify the scalability of CE principles.

In addition, this paper also discusses the emerging trends in the adoption of CE across sectors in India, with evidence demonstrating the progress being made across various sectors. The analysis presented in Section 4 brings out that advances in the CE and its wider promotion will increase the capacity of rural and urban sectors to significantly contribute to economic growth while minimising their ecological and other critical footprints, and creating positive environmental externalities. The study also highlights the need for systemic, multi-level strategies that India can adopt while addressing its unique socio-economic and environmental challenges that impede the implementation of CE practices and the progress towards the CE transition. These challenges (inter alia) relate to inadequate policy frameworks, enforcement and compliance mechanisms, lack of awareness and technical expertise among MSMEs, the preponderance of informal waste management systems, etc. While these challenges persist, there is immense scope for improving efficiency in the areas of waste management, especially e-waste management, for instance, through integrating CE practices, which will enhance resource recovery while reducing environmental risks.

It is quite encouraging to see that the national and state governments in India have launched several programs and initiatives to promote CE, such as the national mission for clean ganga (Namami Gange Programme) for sustainable water management and environmental cleanliness, focusing on environmental cleanliness, minimising waste, and promoting source-based waste segregation under the Clean India Mission (Swachh Bharat Abhiyan), etc. The government has also launched various schemes to promote the utilisation of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency, which are essential elements for achieving circularity and sustainability, as discussed in this paper. Reportedly, with the effective implementation of CE practices across sectors, India could lower its release of greenhouse gases by 45% by the year 2030. It is also estimated that India’s adoption of CE would generate USD 624 billion in benefits annually by 2050 [141].

The private sector in India has also taken steps towards implementing circular economy measures in their operations. Several companies have launched initiatives to reduce waste and promote resource efficiency. For example, major steel manufacturers have launched firm-specific programs to recycle steel scrap and reduce waste generation (e.g., Tata Steel). Similarly, some automobile manufacturers in India have launched initiatives that promote the use of electric vehicles and reduce emissions (e.g., Mahindra & Mahindra). Furthermore, Indian civil society and non-governmental organisations are dynamically promoting the CE concept. For example, the Centre for Environment Education (CEE), a society under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, Govt. of India has been working to promote waste segregation and composting in schools and communities as well as marginal and small enterprises to implement and comply with regulations and practices.

It also emerges from the analysis that industry/firm-specific efforts and consumer support play a crucial role in achieving CE in India. Taking cognisance of that, we propose a framework that underscores the need for collaborative partnerships between multiple stakeholders. The framework delineates those factors that play out at an industry/sectoral level and those that play out at firm-specific levels. Furthermore, the framework identifies specific SDGs that the implementation of the framework could positively impact. Despite India’s commitment to achieving the SDGs, the penetration and scaling up of CE principles require significant efforts, as the existing environmental management activities are sector-specific and have a narrow focus. In this regard, the framework proposed in the study would need critical empirical validations through the development and measurement of CE indicators based on industrial and business sectors and their alignment with the SDGs, considering the organisational structure and contexts within which small, medium, and large businesses operate in India. Therefore, we propose this as a new research area aimed at validating the impacts of adopting CE principles and practices across Indian business sectors and developing policies and recommendations for a sustainable transition to a CE.

However, our study is not without limitations. Inter alia, we have not elaborated on macro-level measures that are necessary for switching to CE processes. In the absence of policies and incentives, firm-level initiatives are likely to be sporadic and opportunistic at best. Thus, further research is recommended to determine appropriate policies and their implementation, focusing on sustainable development and their effectiveness in making a smoother CE transition in India aligning with global trends.