Circular Economy and Sustainability: Integrating Technology and Management Solutions

Dear Colleagues,

This pioneering Special Issue is being announced in the midst of an unprecedented time. With growing environmental and economic pressures and calls for the wellbeing of future generations, countries and corporations alike are dependent on natural and cultural resources to form their economic vitality, locally and globally. Hence, management research is now evolving to focus on how sustainable development, when properly managed, will provide an incentive to attract customers, investors, and other key stakeholders.

This Special Issue is dedicated to promoting interdisciplinary research at the intersection of circular economy principles and sustainability practices, with an emphasis on technological and managerial innovations. This Special Issue aims to:

• Explore innovative approaches for implementing a circular economy.
• Highlight the role of digital technologies in advancing sustainable practices.
• Provide a platform for interdisciplinary research that connects technology, management, and sustainability.
• Showcase practical solutions that organizations can adopt to enhance circularity.

Scope:

This Special Issue advances cutting-edge research and practical applications of the circular economy (CE) model, driven by the sustainability goals to reduce waste, reuse resources, regenerate natural systems, and mitigate costs.

Research Tracks:

Track 1: Circular Business Models

Circular business models create sustainable economic value by designing out waste, extending product lifecycles, and optimizing resource yields through strategies like product-as-a-service, sharing platforms, and resource recovery that maintain materials at their highest utility across multiple uses.

Focus Areas:

• Strategies for designing and implementing circular business models
• Digital platforms supporting circular value creation
• AI-driven product design for circularity
• Sharing economy principles and their implementation
• Case studies of successful circular business transformations

Track 2: Sustainable Technologies

Advances in recycling, upcycling, and resource-efficient technologies, including the use of AI to accelerate sustainability and lower costs

Focus Areas:

• Renewable energy systems and their integration
• Energy-efficient technologies and optimization
• Sustainable materials and production processes
• AI-powered monitoring and optimization systems
• Digital twin technologies for sustainable infrastructure management
• Waste-to-value technologies and innovations

Track 3: Eco-Smart Solutions

Integrating eco-smart and socially responsible solutions based on the environmental, social, and governance (ESG) performance of government, semi-government, and private enterprises.

Focus Areas:

• ESG metrics harmonization and validation across sectors
• AI-powered ESG data analytics and risk assessment
• Impact measurement methodologies for investment outcomes
• ESG integration in procurement and supply chain management
• Disclosure frameworks enhancing transparency and accountability
• Sustainable finance instruments and green standards

Track 4: Global Best Practices

Successful examples of circular economy practices in tourism, hospitality, manufacturing, and urban development.

Focus Areas:

• Closed-loop supply chain models in hospitality and tourism
• Industrial symbiosis networks in manufacturing clusters
• Resource-efficient building design and construction methods
• Urban metabolism and material flow analysis for cities
• Circular business model innovation across sectors
• Performance metrics for circular economy implementation

Track 5: Supply Chain Management

Supply chain management within circular economies transforms traditional linear flows into regenerative loops that trace, optimize, and recover materials through collaborative platforms, advanced tracking technologies, and redesigned logistics networks that prioritize resource retention and value preservation

Focus Areas:

• AI-powered predictive analytics for demand forecasting
• Inventory management optimization for waste reduction
• Blockchain technology for transparent supply chain tracking
• Digital platforms for collaborative supply chain management
• IoT sensors and data analytics for real-time monitoring
• Closed-loop supply chain design and implementation

Track 6: Policy and Regulation

How can government and the private sector design and implement policies to promote CE? Focus Areas:

• Policies and regulations supporting circular economy transition
• Digital technologies in policy-making and governance
• Regulatory compliance monitoring and automation
• Public engagement and awareness-raising strategies
• Data-driven decision-making for sustainable development
• International policy frameworks and their effectiveness

Track 7: Digital Transformation for Circular Economy

Digital transformation enables circular economy through IoT-powered resource tracking, AI-optimized material flows, blockchain-verified supply chains, and platform technologies that facilitate sharing, repair, and recycling across previously disconnected stakeholders and systems.

Focus Areas:

• Digital product design and simulation techniques
• AI-powered circular business model innovation
• Digital platforms for sharing, collaboration, and product-as-a-service
• Data analytics and visualization for circular economy decision-making
• IoT integration for resource tracking and optimization
• Blockchain applications for circular value chains

Track 8: Challenges and Opportunities

Barriers to CE adoption, alternative financing strategies, and incentives to overcome these obstacles. Focus Areas:

• Regulatory and policy frameworks enabling circular transitions
• Financial mechanisms for circular business model innovation
• Transaction cost analysis in circular value chains
• Cross-sector collaboration platforms overcoming fragmentation
• Technology adoption barriers in traditional industries
• Market-based instruments incentivizing resource efficiency

Prof. Dr. Salah S. Hassan
Prof. Dr. Abdullah Abonamah
Prof. Dr. Ibrahim A. Elshaer
Dr. Sunder Ramachandran
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.

• circular business models
• sustainable technologies
• eco-smart solutions
• global best practices
• sustainability management (ESG)
• digital marketing
• strategic branding
• policy and regulation
• digital transformation for circular economy
• challenges and opportunities