Special Issue on Achieving Sustainability through Smart Circular Economy: Readiness, Challenges and Performance

Introduction:

This special issue aims to provide a deeper understanding of the interconnection between smart circular economy and sustainability. The specific focus of this special issue is on the readiness and challenges of current industrial systems for embracing smart circular economies and their impact on sustainability.

Industry 4.0 and circular economy both aim to transform industrial systems for sustainable development. Circular economies reduce waste, use fewer virgin materials, and support the Sustainable Development Goals. They unlock value by leveraging underutilized resources. The integration of technologies like the Internet of Things (IoT), cyber-physical systems, big data, and analytics with circular economy principles gives rise to the concept of a smart circular economy. Industry 4.0 features such as production optimization, customization, energy efficiency, and material flow facilitate the realization of the smart circular economy. However, the adoption of a smart circular economy faces challenges and stakeholders are uncertain about its impact on sustainability. Research on integrating Industry 4.0 with circular economies is limited, necessitating systematic studies to understand the readiness for smart circular economy adoption. Addressing associated challenges, barriers, and critical success factors is crucial for achieving sustainability.

Topics covered:

This issue aims to gather high-quality manuscripts that examine the transformative effects of Industry 4.0 technologies and circular economy practices in the industrial system. It encompasses exploring the challenges and changes experienced by organizations, supply chain partners, practitioners, and stakeholders. The scope also encompasses readiness factors, enablers, success factors, and performance indicators. The primary objective is to provide a platform for sharing original research contributions and practical developments related to Industry 4.0, circular economy, and their role in achieving sustainability. Additionally, it aims to foster global collaboration and the exchange of innovative ideas in these fields and their application areas.

We encourage submissions that contribute to theory building, employ rigorous methods for theory validation, identify innovations in smart circular economy adoption, and enhance industrial practices across diverse sectors, including agriculture and services. The topics of interest for this special issue include, but are not limited to:

• Conceptualization of smart circular economy
• Industry 4.0 technologies for smart circular economy
• Fusion of Industry 4.0 and Circular Practices
• Innovation for the realization of a smart circular economy
• Readiness for the adoption of Circular Practices and Industry 4.0 technologies
• Business Model for Smart Circular Economy
• Challenges in the Integration of Circular Economy and Industry 4.0
• Industry 4.0 enabled circular supply chain
• Sustainable performance of the smart circular economy
• Reverse logistics (re)design for smart circular economy
• Role of smart technologies in product recovery
• Drivers/Barriers/Enablers/Critical Success Factors of smart circular economy
• Digital servitisation for the smart circular economy
• Nexus of Sustainability and Smart Circular Economy
• Role of Consumer attitude/behaviors to adopt the circular based product/services
• Risk management for smart circular economy

Important Deadlines:

• Submission deadline: 15 February 2024
• For any query, do not hesitate to get in touch with Dr Shahbaz Khan (Shahbaz.me12@gmail.com)

Submission Instructions:

All valid submissions will undergo a normal peer-review process immediately after submissions (which do not need to wait for the final submission deadline), and there will be no Article Processing Charges for submissions before 31 December 2023. If accepted, the accepted papers will first immediately be published as early access with a Digital Object Identifier (DOI) number, and then finally published as a collected special issue.

Please read the Guide for Authors before submitting. All articles should be submitted online, please select VSI: smart-circular-economy on submission. The submission website for this journal is located at: https://www.editorialmanager.com/grets/default2.aspx

It is important that authors select the name of the special issue/article type when they upload their manuscripts: VSI: Smart Circular Economy. To submit the works to the GTS special issue Smart Circular Economy, the authors should select one of the following submission types at https://www.editorialmanager.com/grets:

• VSI: Smart Circular Economy: Full-Length Article
• VSI: Smart Circular Economy: Review
• VSI: Smart Circular Economy: Short communication

Guest Editors:

• Dr Shahbaz Khan, GLA University, Mathura, India (Shahbaz.me12@gmail.com)
• Dr Abid Haleem, Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi, India (ahaleem@jmi.ac.in)
• Dr Sadia Samar Ali, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (ssaali@kau.edu.sa)
• Dr Bisma Mannan, University of Plymouth, Plymouth, United Kingdom (bisma.mannan@plymouth.ac.uk)
• Dr Samiya Khan, University of Greenwich, United Kingdom (samiya.khan@greenwich.ac.uk )