Circular Economy in the Digital Age

Dear Colleagues,

The circular economy is recognized by industrials, scholars, and policymakers as a promising approach to jointly advance the sustainability and competitiveness of supply and value chains, given its ability to decouple economic growth from resource consumption and waste generation. Moving companies towards the circular economy involves fundamental changes in industrial ecosystems and a systemic redesign of business models, supply chains, production processes, products development, and consumption patterns. However, several challenges arise in this transformation.
In this perspective, the digital age we live in offers companies many opportunities for overcoming these challenges. In fact, digital 4.0 technologies can support the implementation of circular economy principles into business by enabling new business models (e.g., digital servitization) and the redesign of value chains, products, and consumption patterns towards a new smart circular economy paradigm. For instance, Michelin implemented Internet of Things technology to enable a tires-as-a-service business model where fuel consumption and downtime are minimized. Groupe SEB leveraged additive manufacturing to print spare parts on-demand, virtualizing its provision and the technical assistance processes, thus reducing transport needs and emissions. Walmart tested the IBM Food Trust blockchain to track provenance, real-time location, and status of food products in its supply chain network, to prevent food waste and support consumer choices towards sustainable patterns. Rolls-Royce take advantage of product-in-use data collected through the IoT on jet engine conditions, to improve the redesign of engines for optimal performance and maintenance. Despite its substantial potential, the convergence between digital technologies and Circular Economy is still under-investigated, and practical applications in companies remain limited.
This Special Issue calls for a more critical discussion and outlook on this topic. Thus, we invite articles integrating a system perspective into rigorous research, describing and prescribing how digital technologies can enable the different aspect of the Smart Circular Economy paradigm, namely: i. strategic (e.g., new business models and ecosystems, digital servitization); ii. tactical (e.g., supply and value chains redesign); and iii. operational (e.g., product redesign, consumption patterns).

Dr. Gianmarco Bressanelli
Dr. Federico Adrodegari
Prof. Dr. Daniela Cristina Antelmi Pigosso
Prof. Dr. Vinit Prida
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.