The Role of Industry 4.0 in Advancing Circular Economy and Sustainability
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Economic and Business Aspects of Sustainability".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 May 2026 | Viewed by 6
Special Issue Editors
Interests: eco-design; circular economy; sustainable manufacturing; digital manufacturing
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The transition towards sustainable industrial ecosystems is driven by the integration of Industry 4.0 technologies with Circular Economy principles. Designers and engineers are increasingly required to rethink traditional linear approaches, enabling data-driven, intelligent, and adaptive design and manufacturing processes.
Industry 4.0 technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT), Artificial Intelligence (AI), Big Data and Analytics, Cloud Computing, and Digital Twins, provide critical support for advancing Circular Economy strategies. These technologies support real-time resource monitoring, predictive maintenance, material traceability, and the deployment of closed-loop systems, which are fundamental for translating sustainability concepts into practical engineering solutions.
Papers exploring novel sustainable methodologies that demonstrate how Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy principles can be combined to measure, monitor, and operationalize sustainability or reviews that analyse the existing strategies are invited. Case studies that focus on the impact of I4.0 solutions on energy efficiency, material traceability, product lifecycle extension, and closing resource flows are also welcome.
The papers selected for this Special Issue will be subject to a rigorous peer review procedure with the aim of the rapid and wide dissemination of research results, developments, and applications.
Prof. Dr. Marco Marconi
Dr. Giorgia Pietroni
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- Industry 4.0
- circular economy
- sustainable design
- smart manufacturing
- digital transformation
- design for circular economy
- digital sustainability assessment
- Industry 4.0 production systems
- data-driven manufacturing
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