First-mover firms in the transition towards the sharing economy in metallic natural resource-intensive industries: Implications for the circular economy and emerging industry 4.0 technologies

To achieve sustainability, the circular economy (CE) concept is challenging traditional linear enterprise models due to the need to manage geographically distributed product life cycle and value chains. Concurrently, Industry 4.0 is being used to bring productivity to higher levels by reducing waste and improving the efficiency of production processes via more precise real-time planning. There is significant potential to combine these two frameworks to enhance the sustainability of manufacturing sectors. This paper discusses the fundamental concepts of Industry 4.0 and explores the influential factors of Industry 4.0 that accelerate the sharing economy in the CE context via a case of electric scooters in Taiwan. The result shows Industry 4.0 can provide an enabling framework for the sharing economy in CE implementation.

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Circular Economy – Key for the Change of Natural Resource from Scarce to Abundanc

International Journal of Recent Technology and Engineering - 2 ◽

10.35940/ijrte.b1127.0782s619 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 8 (2S6) ◽

pp. 666-671

Keyword(s):

Natural Resource ◽

Circular Economy ◽

New Technologies ◽

National Level ◽

Sharing Economy ◽

Small Scale ◽

World Population ◽

Major Question ◽

The World ◽

Bike Sharing

As per world economic forum and UN's world population prospects, every year, the world's population is getting increased by 83 million more people, with this increasing population the usage of some of the available abundant natural resource has increased which may lead to scarcity of these resources. The world was using a traditional economic model based on a 'take-make-consume-throw away' approach of resources, it relays on cheap and easily available resources and starts producing goods, uses it and finally destroys it or dump it as a huge waste. So the world has to shift the gear to circular and sharing economy models. On a small scale, many companies are already working on the problems of resource usage efficiency by developing new technologies, such as those underlying the so-called sharing economy. Car sharing, and bike sharing for example. The circular economy is the process of not buying the goods but using the services and performance of the goods than owning it. This is the model where the manufacturers or the retailers are the owners of the goods and products used by us. The maintenance and repairs will be handled by the manufacturer which is also a part of the deal. In the recent years, the circular economy has gained a greater momentum in all parts of the world like corporate, governments, non-profit organizations and industry associations. The Circular economy will act as an innovative national level developmental strategy with a long-term vision for the future of a well-sustained world by increasing the abundance of the available natural resources. Yet the circular economy has a setback in its model; it also needs certain resource and energy for the process of recycling which is comparatively less. The major question will be whether the energy required for recycling is always lower than reproducing the product itself

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Emerging Industrial Revolution: Symbiosis of Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy: The Role of Universities

Science Technology and Society ◽

10.1177/0971721820912918 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 25 (3) ◽

pp. 505-525 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Seeram Ramakrishna ◽

Alfred Ngowi ◽

Henk De Jager ◽

Bankole O. Awuzie

Keyword(s):

Economic Growth ◽

Circular Economy ◽

Industry 4.0 ◽

Business Models ◽

Industrial Revolution ◽

New Technologies ◽

Production Systems ◽

Fourth Industrial Revolution ◽

New Jobs

Growing consumerism and population worldwide raises concerns about society’s sustainability aspirations. This has led to calls for concerted efforts to shift from the linear economy to a circular economy (CE), which are gaining momentum globally. CE approaches lead to a zero-waste scenario of economic growth and sustainable development. These approaches are based on semi-scientific and empirical concepts with technologies enabling 3Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle) and 6Rs (reuse, recycle, redesign, remanufacture, reduce, recover). Studies estimate that the transition to a CE would save the world in excess of a trillion dollars annually while creating new jobs, business opportunities and economic growth. The emerging industrial revolution will enhance the symbiotic pursuit of new technologies and CE to transform extant production systems and business models for sustainability. This article examines the trends, availability and readiness of fourth industrial revolution (4IR or industry 4.0) technologies (for example, Internet of Things [IoT], artificial intelligence [AI] and nanotechnology) to support and promote CE transitions within the higher education institutional context. Furthermore, it elucidates the role of universities as living laboratories for experimenting the utility of industry 4.0 technologies in driving the shift towards CE futures. The article concludes that universities should play a pivotal role in engendering CE transitions.

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The “ReWaste4.0” Project—A Review

Processes ◽

10.3390/pr9050764 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 9 (5) ◽

pp. 764

Author(s):

Renato Sarc

Keyword(s):

Circular Economy ◽

Industry 4.0 ◽

Waste Treatment ◽

Digital Communication ◽

Review Article ◽

Plant Performance ◽

Energy Materials ◽

Treatment Processes ◽

Mixed Waste ◽

Further Development

ReWaste4.0 is an innovative and cooperative K-Project in the period 2017–2021. Through ReWaste4.0 the transformation of the non-hazardous mixed municipal and commercial waste treatment industry towards a circular economy has started by investigating and applying the new approaches of the Industry 4.0. Vision of the ReWaste4.0 is, among others, the development of treatment plants for non-hazardous waste into a “Smart Waste Factory” in which a digital communication and interconnection between material quality and machine as well as plant performance is reached. After four years of research and development, various results have been gained and the present review article summarizes, links and discuss the outputs (especially from peer-reviewed papers) of seven sub-projects, in total, within the K-project and discusses the main findings and their relevance and importance for further development of the waste treatment sector. Results are allocated into three areas, namely: contaminants in mixed waste and technical possibilities for their reduction as well as removal; secondary raw and energy materials in mixed waste and digitalization in waste characterization and treatment processes for mixed waste. The research conducted in ReWaste4.0 will be continued in ReWaste F for further development towards a particle-, sensor- and data-based circular economy in the period 2021–2025.

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