Integrating circular economy with digital technologies – a continuous improvement framework approach

Abstract

The urgency for sustainable global development has intensified in recent years, with increased focus on the need for accelerated actions towards identifying and implementing sustainable solutions. Circular economy (CE) strategies are critical in achieving these goals, and digital technology development is a key enabler in overcoming recognized challenges for CE implementation, particularly in areas of data management and process digitalization.This research identifies opportunities for advancing intelligent circular economy solutions. Based on the Plan-Do-Check-Act methodology, a continuous improvement framework is proposed. This approach allows for assessing the current state from a systems lifecycle perspective, defining the desired circular economy strategy, evaluating digital maturity levels, identifying improvement opportunities, implementing necessary actions, and learning from each cycle to initiate further iterations. The framework is tested and validated through a number of industrial case studies. The findings contribute to the knowledge base for researchers and practitioners working on circular economy and sustainable supply chain solutions.