Co-Creative Processes for the Circular Management of Solid Waste Through Digital Twins: A Framework for Progreso, Hidalgo, Mexico

Abstract

This study proposes a conceptual framework to operationalize the transition from conventional, technical, and material-centric circularity to an inclusive socio-technical paradigm through the deployment of a Co-Creative Digital Process Twin (DPT) framework in Progreso, Hidalgo, Mexico. The primary objective is to bridge the gap between technocentric industrial applications and the socio-technical needs of developing regions, specifically by integrating informal waste pickers (pepenadores) into a formal circular economy ecosystem. The methodology is structured into three distinct stages: a systematic scoping review following PRISMA-ScR protocols to identify architectural gaps in the current literature; the generation of a conceptual framework and Business Model Canvas grounded in participatory design; and the formulation of Key Performance Indicators for future longitudinal testing. The results indicate a profound bias in existing digital twin research toward industrial automation, with a near-total absence of social inclusion mechanisms. In response, this study presents a multidimensional business model featuring service-oriented cooperative architecture. This system utilizes open standards (FIWARE, BPMN 2.0) and crowdsourcing platforms (Ushahidi) to maximize material recovery while ensuring socio-economic equity. This will need to be verified in future studies. A limitation of this study is its specificity to a single municipality with certain characteristics, which could hinder its immediate generalization to metropolitan areas. Furthermore, the success of the model could depend on basic digital literacy and a stable telecommunications infrastructure.