The role of lean, Six Sigma, and lean Six Sigma in driving sustainability through a circular economy framework in agribusiness: a systematic literature review

The circular economy (CE) model is described as an economic system that replaces the traditional production and consumption model “take-make-disposal” with a strategy of reuse, recycling and remanufacturing to optimise the resources efficiently (Dennison et al., 2024). This model seeks to extend the product life cycles with the aim to reduce waste and its environmental impact (Basile et al., 2024; Jerome and Ljunggren, 2025). CE is widely discussed in the contemporary business field on economic growth, leading to sustainability (Voulvoulis, 2022), balancing ecological resilience (Kennedy and Linnenluecke, 2022) and promoting long-term economic, social and environmental benefits (Yin et al., 2023). The concept of CE encourages the mitigation of resource scarcity, minimises waste and fosters innovations towards sustainable production and consumption, and is based on several key principles (e.g. reducing resource usage, reusing materials, recycling waste, regenerating natural systems and enhancing the product lifestyle) (Velenturf and Purnell, 2021). These principles are evident in agribusiness through the practice of waste valorisation, regenerative farming, producing innovative products and closed-loop supply chains activities (Cahyadi et al., 2024; Nattassha et al., 2020).

Contemporary businesses are continuously seeking ways to enhance their business performance aligned with CE and sustainability (Yin et al., 2023) by delivering cost-effective, high-quality products promptly, to stay competitive (Hassan et al., 2022; Ng and Hung, 2001). This led to the implementation of well-established approaches (e.g. TQM, Business Process Re-engineering, Lean and Six Sigma), which streamline the operation processes and improve the quality standards and quality management systems, which ensure product reliability, consistency and compliance (Nanda, 2005).

Among these approaches, Lean and Six Sigma stand out as globally recognised philosophies for quality improvement by reducing waste, minimising product deviation, improving process efficiency and customer satisfaction (Bakar et al., 2015). The Lean approach is a philosophy that aims to increase production quality and efficiency by eliminating waste (Hu et al., 2015; Stone, 2012). On the other hand, Six Sigma is a set of statistical tools used to develop a framework for process improvement within the quality management perspective (Goh and Xie, 2004). Lean and Six Sigma were initially used separately (Dahlgaard and Dahlgaard-Park, 2006), but were subsequently integrated as Lean Six Sigma (LSS), which provides a more comprehensive approach towards obtaining business improvement by reducing waste and process variability simultaneously (Laureani and Antony, 2012). Voehl et al. (2013) suggested that LSS plays a significant role in enhancing overall organisational performance, efficiencies and customer satisfaction.

LSS has been implemented across many different industries, such as chemical manufacturing (Alarcón et al., 2023), food manufacturing (Widiwati et al., 2024), automobile (Rathi et al., 2021), hospitality and tourism (Fiala and Thirumaran, 2021), airlines (Psychogios and Tsironis, 2012) and education (Lu et al., 2018), improving the production processes (Voehl et al., 2013), productivity (Rane et al., 2023), quality (Anh et al., 2023) and customer satisfaction (Laureani and Antony, 2012), regardless of organisational size (Kumar et al., 2023), nature (Singh and Rathi, 2019) and national boundaries (Charles and Price, 2016; Citybabu and Yamini, 2023) which leads to sustainability.

Nowadays, sustainability has emerged as a key topic in academic research across multiple disciplines. The importance of integrating Lean, Six Sigma and LSS with sustainability across various industries has been acknowledged and helps accelerate the organisational performance in achieving the three sustainability pillars; namely (1) economy that emphasises the creation of sustainable and inclusive economic growth that provides opportunities for all without sacrificing environmental or social well-being, (2) environment that focuses on responsible resource management, pollution reduction and the protection of ecosystems and (3) society which aims to create more resilient and inclusive societies that benefit individuals and communities (Khanzode et al., 2021; Park and Linich, 2008). Many studies (Belhadi et al., 2020; Riyanto et al., 2023) have revealed that the application of LSS has contributed positively to these sustainability pillars. Studies have shown that LSS contributes to the achievement of CE principles (Skalli et al., 2022). CE is regarded as an economic system that considers the “End of life” with the applications of reduction, reuse, recycling and recovery of the materials in the entire business system (Kirchherr et al., 2017), which presented a new business framework to reach sustainability goals (McDowall et al., 2017). While CE is concerned particularly about environmental protection (Haupt and Hellweg, 2019), LSS focuses on providing a structured approach to environmental conservation and achieving environmental sustainability (Powell et al., 2017). In recent years, there has been a growing trend among researchers (Orlov et al., 2024; Skalli et al., 2023) to identify the contribution of Lean and Six Sigma towards CE principles, particularly addressing environmental concerns. However, studies (Farrukh et al., 2023; Zironi et al., 2024) highlight the relationship between LSS and CE in agribusiness remains scarce, which this study aims to fill.

There has been increasing attention drawn to Lean and Six Sigma, especially in industries with financial barriers and operational efficiency-seeking organisations, particularly for agribusiness (Antony et al., 2017; Satolo et al., 2017a). According to Davis and Goldberg (1957), agribusiness is defined as the total of all operations involved in the manufacture and distribution of farm supplies; production operations on the farm; and the storage, processing and distribution of farm commodities and items and from them. It reflects the activities of supplying materials, performing operational activities, storing and distributing agricultural products to its end-users, leading towards a business-oriented approach (Khalatur et al., 2023).

LSS has been recognised as an optimal approach to improve long-term competitiveness in the global market and enhance the environmental quality of agribusinesses (Rifqi et al., 2021). Although LSS is increasingly adopted in agribusinesses to improve business processes (Antony, 2011), productivity (Sreekanth et al., 2024), quality (Fletcher, 2018) and enhance strategic decisions (Muganyi et al., 2019), but their application in agribusiness in the context of sustainability and CE remains unexplored in the extant literature (Skalli et al., 2023). Cahyadi et al. (2024) emphasised the importance of moving towards sustainable production from linear production (take-make-dispose) in agribusiness to enhance resource efficiency, environmental benefits and economic resilience. In addition, they highlighted the importance of identifying CE principles for sustainability improvement within the challenges of efficient resource management and waste minimisation. Similarly, Sahoo et al. (2025) highlighted the profit, planet and people benefits of proper identification of the relationship between different ways of Lean, Six Sigma applications and CE towards sustainability.

Based on the above, two Research Questions (RQs) have been developed for this study as follows:

This study seeks to fill this gap by systematically reviewing the literature to provide further theoretical insights into the role of LSS in supporting sustainability in agribusiness through the CE framework. Specifically, this study brings novel insights to the existing knowledge by exploring the Lean, Six Sigma and LSS applications as a strategic tool to attain sustainability goals through the CE framework, particularly in the agribusiness sector (Marques et al., 2025; Veloso et al., 2025). The significance of this study lies in the fact that the proposed framework can be adopted by agribusinesses, which can be used as a guide for sustainable transformation.

This paper is structured into six sections. Section 1 provides the introduction and background information about this study, and the methodology adopted in this study will be outlined in Section 2. Section 3 presents the descriptive analysis of the key findings, and discussions on the two RQs will be provided in Section 4. Section 5 discusses the theoretical contribution and practical implications of the study, and conclusions will be drawn in Section 6. And finally, Section 7 will outline the future research and limitations of the study.

A systematic literature review was conducted to evaluate the existing body of work on the application of Lean, Six Sigma and LSS in agribusinesses that drive sustainability through the CE framework. Many researchers (Payne and Kwofie, 2024; Zironi et al., 2024b) have used the ReSOLVE (i.e. Regenerate, Share, Optimise, Loop, Virtualise and Exchange) framework developed by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation (Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2015), to implement the CE principles and accelerate growth. The ReSOLVE framework has been applied in many industries (Nobre and Tavares, 2020; Sell et al., 2023), including assessing CE’s impact on agriculture business-related industries (Halpern et al., 2024; Payne and Kwofie, 2024). This study has adopted the ReSOLVE framework to evaluate the CE principles addressed across various applications of Lean, Six Sigma and LSS in the reviewed articles. Figure 1 below briefly illustrates the procedure followed.

To assess the contribution of Lean, Six Sigma and LSS to agribusiness sustainability, the three key pillars of economy, society and environment were considered. Furthermore, the reviewed articles were examined on how various applications of Lean and Six Sigma have been applied in agribusiness using LSS principles. These key principles include: (1) eliminating waste, which involves removing process activities that do not directly add value for the customer (Pristyanto and Rochmoeljati, 2024), (2) eliminating process variations, which ensures consistent output with minimal variability (Antony and Kumar, 2012), (3) customer focus that emphasises meeting customer requirements (Bazrkar et al., 2017), (4) reducing lead time that helps shorten the duration from process initiation to completion (Antony et al., 2017), (5) continuous improvement, which promotes ongoing enhancement of processes, systems and products (Iswanto, 2017) and (6) archiving perfection that aims to attain zero waste in processes (Dobrin et al., 2017). The steps undertaken to determine the total number of reviewed articles on the different applications of Lean, Six Sigma and LSS in agribusiness towards sustainability pillars, and LSS principles are as shown in Figures 2 and 3, respectively.

The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement, developed by (Moher et al., 2009) was adopted in this study (Figure 4), as it provides a concise and transparent literature review of different academic disciplines, scholars and practitioners (Liberati et al., 2009; Tam et al., 2019) The guidelines provided in the PRISMA statement include: (1) identifying existing literature in search databases and other relevant sources, (2) screening and checking the inclusion eligibility of existing literature, (3) data extraction from selected and eligible literature and (4) synthesising the findings to make available a comprehensive summary. The steps of selecting review papers will be discussed in turn next.

The term “agribusiness” used in this study has been defined as an integrated system that encompasses input supply, agricultural production, processing and distribution of agricultural products (Boehlje, 1999). Martínez-Burgos et al. (2021) also, suggested that the integrated agribusiness activities and industrial functions form an agribusiness system called agri-industry within the broader approach of the agribusiness context. The term “agri-industry” refers to an economic system with industrial components connected to agriculture that includes any organisation’s involvement in the storage, processing and handling of agricultural commodities (Nazrul and Xayavong, 2010). Özaydın and Direk (2022) and FAO (2013) pointed out that the close link between agribusiness and agri-industry is the principal source of value addition for primary agricultural products. The term “agriculture” reflects the primary production activities of agricultural products that are considered the primary node of the agribusiness system (Ambor et al., 2025; Oliveira et al., 2023). Agri-industry and agriculture are conceptually interconnected to agribusiness, in which agriculture provides primary activities of the agribusiness, and agri-industry represents the broader value-adding dimension of agribusiness (Zylbersztajn, 2017). Therefore, these three keywords (i.e. agribusiness, agri-industry and agriculture) have been used as part of the search terms.

At the initial stage, extensive literature review searches were performed on electronic databases such as Scopus, Emerald Insight, Web of Science and JSTOR. The search terms included “Agribusiness”, “Agriculture”, “Agri-industry”, “Lean”, “Six Sigma”, “Lean Six Sigma”, “Sustainability” and “Circular Economy” with proper usage of “AND” and “OR” commands to allow for a more optimal search in the existing literature reviews. These keywords were decided based on the study objectives.

The Boolean operation was performed to search extant literature such as (“Lean Six Sigma” OR “Six Sigma” OR Lean) AND (Agribusiness OR Agriculture OR Agri-industry). The second string was operated as [(“Lean Six Sigma” OR “Six Sigma” OR Lean) AND (Agribusiness OR Agriculture OR “Agri-industry”) AND (Sustainability OR “Circular Economy”)] in each considered database. In the initial attempt, a total number of 2,281 articles were retrieved.

At this step, the selected review articles’ titles were scanned thoroughly to identify duplicated reviewed papers published in different journals in different formats. Also, papers outside the time period of 2005–2024 were excluded. In this stage, 24 papers were excluded and as a result, 2,257 review articles were filtered for further review.

In the record screening stage, the retrieved papers were filtered based on different criteria. Peer-reviewed articles (including systematic literature review) published in journals, and the application of individual or combined applications of Lean and Six Sigma across entire activities in the agribusinesses were considered for the inclusive criteria of the review selection. Next, review articles that were published other than in English were excluded, resulting in the elimination of 2,160 articles. With inclusion and exclusion criteria, a total of 97 articles proceeded to further screenings.

In this last step, abstracts were examined to determine whether the contents fulfilled the requirements of the inclusive criteria and applications of Lean, Six Sigma and LSS across many activities in agribusiness processes. Furthermore, the results, discussion and conclusion sections of the full paper were checked to determine their adherence to the inclusion criteria. As a result, 61 papers were omitted due to content not aligned with the inclusive criteria, and therefore, only 36 review articles remained for the systematic literature review. Figure 4 outlines the PRISMA statement process that this study has followed, and a summary of the study methodology for this systematic literature review is provided in Table 1, and the reviewed papers in  Appendix.

Figure 5 highlights that the reviewed articles adopted two main methods to implement Lean, Six Sigma and LSS in agribusiness. Half of the reviewed papers (18 out of 36) are related to the implementation of the DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyse, Improve and Control) process, which highlights the structured improvement framework for implementing solutions in agribusiness practices (Rifqi et al., 2021). These findings align with the study by Nolasco Mezares and Trujillo Vilcapoma (2025), which reported approximately 86% of agribusinesses used the DMAIC process, which is a common Six Sigma approach for improving existing processes to minimise inefficiencies and quality defects. In contrast, only one reviewed paper has adopted the DMADV (Define, Measure, Analyse, Design and Verify) process, suggesting that this method remains underutilised in the agribusiness context in developing innovative products and processes, which is an opportunity for future research. The limited adoption of the DMADV approach may be explained by the fact that its implementation requires a high level of technical knowledge, which poses a challenge for many agribusinesses (Yang et al., 2022). The remaining reviewed papers did not identify any specific method used.

Figure 6 highlights the distribution of the reviewed articles by publication year, revealing an increasing trend with minor fluctuations, drawing attention to studying Lean, Six Sigma and LSS in agribusinesses over the period from 2005 to 2024. The highest number of papers published was in the year 2023, which accounted for six of the 36 reviewed papers, and no studies related to Lean, Six Sigma and LSS in agribusiness were identified between the years 2007 and 2009. Most of the reviewed papers (55.5%, n = 20) were published in or after the year 2020, and this may be attributed to the growing pressure for sustainable practices and resource efficiency in the agribusiness sector, which has led to a greater level of research interest in this area.

As shown in Figure 7, findings show that the application of Lean, Six Sigma and LSS in agribusiness was reported across 21 different countries. Accordingly, Brazil (n = 5, including 2 combined with other countries), India (n = 4), Turkey (n = 4) and Sweden (n = 3) are the most common countries from which the data is collected. This is consistent with the findings of Satolo et al. (2017), who noted that Brazil has become one of the largest exporters of agricultural products and has increasingly adopted strategic tools to improve agribusiness performance and maintain global competitiveness (Basso et al., 2024). Furthermore, agribusinesses in Brazil exhibit a strong continuous improvement culture, with strategic tools such as Lean and LSS being widely implemented (Sakumoto et al., 2019). Similarly, India is an agriculture-dependent economy, and government support for LSS implementation has encouraged its adoption across many industries, including agribusiness (OECD, 2023). These initiatives aim to enhance customer satisfaction and reduce the likelihood of product failures within agribusiness operations (Antony et al., 2016; Prashar, 2014). It is worth noting that key agricultural-producing countries such as China, Russia, France and Mexico have not appeared in this research. This absence may be explained by potential cultural misalignments between Lean principles and organisational practices, negative perceptions of Six Sigma’s efficiency, and a general lack of knowledge and resources necessary for its implementation in these countries, which can hinder the adoption of these applications (Al-Abdallah and Lic, 2020; Cronemyr et al., 2014).

According to Figure 8, there are four types of research methodology adopted by these reviewed articles. Most articles (n = 27) have used the single case study methodology, and this is followed by empirical research (n = 4), multiple case studies (n = 3) and applied research (n = 2).

Figure 9 presents the journal publications in which the review articles related to the different applications of Lean and Six Sigma in agribusiness were published from 2005 to 2024. A total of 26 different journals has been identified, and the International Journal of Lean Six Sigma has the most articles (n = 8). Next is the Total Quality Management Journal with three articles, then the Production Planning and Control Journal with two articles. All remaining articles are evenly spread across other journals, with one publication each. This suggests that the International Journal of Lean Six Sigma has been the key publication outlet disseminating academic research work related to the adoption of different applications of Lean and Six Sigma in agribusiness.

As shown in Figure 10, most of the reviewed articles are related to the application of LSS, and this is followed by the Lean approach, Six Sigma, Green Lean, Design for LSS and Green Lean Six Sigma. There are 15 (out of 36) reviewed articles related to the application of LSS in agribusiness, 10 of which are in the context of food and beverages manufacturing, two are in dairy products manufacturing, and the remaining three reviewed papers are not mentioned in any specific setting. The increasing adoption of LSS application has been supported by findings of Costa et al. (2018) and Thammasang et al. (2021), which showed that agribusinesses have begun to recognise numerous benefits (e.g. cost reduction, improved productivity and quality) when compared with implementing either Lean or Six Sigma alone. Previous studies (Costa et al., 2018; Marques et al., 2025) also suggested that the combined application of Lean and Six Sigma can optimise quality-related outcomes across different industries, including agribusiness.

As for the application of the Lean approach in agribusiness, 10 (out of 36) reviewed papers are identified. These are mainly related to food and meat processing, with three reviewed papers identified each, and the remaining papers are not specified. There are six reviewed papers related to the Six Sigma application, and they are associated with food processing, farming and equipment production. Furthermore, the results indicate that four reviewed papers are related to the application of Lean and Six Sigma approaches that incorporate the green concept (Green Lean, Green Lean Six Sigma) in agribusiness. It is interesting to note that some authors (Rothenberg et al., 2001; Venkat and Wakeland, 2006) argued against this finding that the positive environmental impacts are already included in the Lean approach. It is considered an inducement factor for greener concepts in agribusiness, leading to the idea that Lean is a green concept, and it provides a foundation for green initiatives (Dieste et al., 2019; King and Lenox, 2001). In addition, Chugani et al. (2017) pointed out that both Lean and Six Sigma can be used as effective strategic tools for resource conservation, reducing global warming and energy saving in agribusiness. However, Chen et al. (2020) challenged this idea that Lean does not explicitly aim at environmental aspects, as it aims at operational performances by targeting waste instead. Notably, the integration of the green concept in agribusiness with the Six Sigma application has not been observed among the reviewed articles, which serves as an opportunity for further investigation because LSS lacks a holistic environmental metric (Ghasemibojd et al., 2025). Finally, only one reviewed article is associated with the application of Design for LSS in agribusiness, which is specific to value chain lifecycle data management in agribusiness. This finding contrasts with the increasing uptake of Design for LSS in other industries such as engineering (Ó Longaigh et al., 2023), and medical manufacturing (Trubetskaya et al., 2023). A possible reason for the limited application of Design for LSS in agribusiness may be that the industry has traditionally prioritised operational activities over design-driven approaches (Costa et al., 2018).

More than half (20 out of 36) of the reviewed articles have addressed the implementation of the different applications of Lean and Six Sigma for activities related to food processing in agribusiness. The primary focus has been on performance improvements in the production process, reducing waste generation in production. This finding is consistent with previous studies (Algassem et al., 2014; Costa et al., 2018) reported LSS initiatives are evident in different contexts within the food industry to enhance production quality. Jamil et al. (2025) further supported this observation, highlighting that the application of LSS contributes to achieving sustainability in the food and beverage sector.

Reviewed articles related to Lean, Six Sigma and different applications in the supply chain process accounted for five papers, whereas three reviewed articles have highlighted the improvement of food quality and safety, particularly on implementing quality management systems such as ISO 9001 in agribusiness. Marques et al. (2016) highlighted the similarities between LSS and ISO 9001 clauses in areas such as process mapping, performance measurement and continuous improvement, suggesting that LSS can be effectively integrated with ISO 9001 applications.

The remaining reviewed articles are evenly spread across activities related to agricultural equipment processing, farm management, food management, system management and value chain data management. These findings are supported by previous studies (Rifqi et al., 2021; Utama and Abirfatin, 2023) that suggested LSS can be adopted across a broad range of business processes, regardless of their industry function. It is observed that no evidence has been recorded in developing innovative products using the DMADV method, using Six Sigma application, highlighting a need to further investigate the use of DMADV in agribusiness. A possible explanation is that the DMADV method requires substantial resources, extensive data and rigorous testing, which may limit its adoption in the agribusiness industry (Yang et al., 2022). Figure 11 shows different applications of Lean and Six Sigma across agribusiness activities.

Overall results reveal that approximately 72.2% of all reviewed articles have contributed to achieving the eliminating waste principle. This is followed by the principles of continuous improvement (58.3%), achieving perfection (33.3%), reducing lead time (30.6%), customer focus (25%) and eliminating process variation (19.4%). Figure 12 provides a summary of the overall contribution of Lean, Six Sigma and LSS applications towards LSS principles in agribusiness.

Of the 36 reviewed articles, 15 contributed to the incorporation of the LSS application in agribusiness, and this is followed by Lean application (n = 10), Six Sigma application (n = 6) and modified Lean and Six Sigma application (i.e. a combination of Green Lean, Design for LSS and Green Lean Six Sigma) (n = 5). The apparent lack of research using different applications towards the LSS principles in agribusiness is evident, particularly where no one application has accounted for more than half of the total number of reviewed articles. This may be explained by the fact that Lean application alone does not address process variation, while the standalone application of Six Sigma does not address process flow speed (Schroeder et al., 2003; Shah and Ward, 2007). Consequently, integrating these applications becomes essential for achieving different improvement goals. Thus, this warrants a greater level of attention for research to provide further insights and understanding in this field. Table 2 illustrates the different applications of the LSS principles in agribusiness.

Several aspects of the different applications of Lean and Six Sigma towards LSS principles in agribusiness have been observed in the reviewed articles. Firstly, the number of reviewed articles related to the customer focus principle is relatively well spread across the different applications of Lean, Six Sigma and LSS. The key findings highlight the adoption of customer changes, such as seasonal consumption, quality and health surveillance (Satolo et al., 2017), customer association (Dora et al., 2013), the importance of addressing customers’ requirements (Hakimi et al., 2018), achieving customer satisfaction (Prashar, 2014) and a need to improve customer value (Barth and Melin, 2018) in agribusiness. Our findings are consistent with previous studies (Trubetskaya et al., 2023) that emphasised the core of these applications towards the delivery of customer values and ensured improvements can be achieved through efficiencies that align with customer expectations.

Secondly, there are notably more reviewed articles that used LSS applications to examine the principles of continuous improvement, eliminating waste and reducing lead time, than other applications. One possible explanation is that LSS applications are likely to generate greater benefits than using Lean or Six Sigma in isolation (Schroeder et al., 2003). For the principle of continuous improvement, findings reveal that the studies are mainly related to the development of new frameworks and designs (Ariffien et al., 2021) that strengthen traceability, supplier relationships (Yeni et al., 2024), as well as supply chain performance systems (Sharma et al., 2023). On the other hand, key themes in the eliminating waste principle have focused on the reduction of production and resource waste (Zironi et al., 2024; Powell et al., 2017), scrap rate (Rifqi et al., 2021) and energy cost (Trubetskaya et al., 2023). In terms of the reducing lead time principle, key themes identified are associated with reducing setup time (Costa et al., 2020), lead time (Zironi et al., 2024) and cycle time (Dora and Gellynck, 2015). It is observed that these three principles lack applications from the use of Lean and Six Sigma in agribusiness. This finding differs from the study by Widiwati et al. (2024) that revealed these principles are more likely to reduce waste and improve processes in the food industry using the LSS application, as it can achieve better performance compared with using Lean or Six Sigma alone (Mojumder, 2025). Therefore, an opportunity for future research existed in this area so that further insights and a better understanding can be attained about different applications of these principles.

Thirdly, findings suggest Lean application towards the principle of achieving perfection has been identified in a higher number of reviewed articles than other applications. Key themes in this principle have focused on increasing productivity and efficiency (Fernandes Junior and Pinto, 2020), increasing sales (Zokaei and Simons, 2006), optimising production systems (Satolo et al., 2017) and reaching more profit margins (Cox and Chicksand, 2005) in agribusiness. This may be because the primary goals of Six Sigma and LSS are aimed at improving efficiency and quality, defect reduction and process control, rather than continual refinement towards achieving perfection (Mittal et al., 2023; Sutherland, 2001). This observation is further supported by Jadhav et al. (2014), who highlighted the strategic value of Lean in the “pursue perfection” principle, as it represents a core and final objective of Lean manufacturing. This presents an opportunity for future research to provide the much-needed evidence.

Finally, application of the modified Lean and Six Sigma application towards five principles (i.e. eliminating waste, continuous improvement, achieving perfection, customer focus and reducing lead time) has been observed in the reviewed articles. Common themes highlighted in these principles include: waste reduction in agribusiness (Andreazza de Freitas et al., 2024; Barth and Melin, 2018), determining a long-term perspective (Barth and Melin, 2018), reducing carbon footprint (Ortiz Porras et al., 2023) and cycle time (Andreazza de Freitas et al., 2024), and improve customer value (Barth and Melin, 2018). However, it is worth noting that no reviewed article has been identified to address the principle of eliminating process variations. A possible explanation may be that agribusiness processes are inherently variable because they are highly dependent on the biological growth cycles and environmental conditions, making variation extremely difficult to eliminate (Coetzee and Mangaroo-Pillay, 2023). Therefore, this research gap poses an opportunity for future investigation.

According to Table 3, the majority (28 out of 36) of the reviewed papers found that the optimisation principle has often been considered in Lean, Six Sigma, LSS and modified Lean and Six Sigma applications. The common themes identified are related to increasing production performance (Hakimi et al., 2018; Rifqi et al., 2021), improving productivity (Fernandes Junior and Pinto, 2020; Ortiz Porras et al., 2023), reducing waste (Ortiz Porras et al., 2023) and saving cost (Zokaei and Simons, 2006). The CE principle of exchange is observed in 24 reviewed articles, and the key areas of focus are mainly on implementing new technologies (Hakimi et al., 2018; Manzouri et al., 2013) and designing new products (Trubetskaya et al., 2023). As for the virtualisation, share and loop principles, only two reviewed articles in each have been identified. The main themes in these papers have focused on visual management (Rifqi et al., 2021), reducing and reusing resources (Zironi et al., 2024; Powell et al., 2017) and redesigning and remanufacturing (Barth and Melin, 2018). Finally, the regenerate principle has only been highlighted in one reviewed paper, and the focus is on recovering resources (Zironi et al., 2024). It is noted that most studies have predominantly focused on the optimisation and exchange principles, whereas other principles (i.e. loop, share, virtualisation and regeneration) are notably neglected. A possible explanation is that the optimisation and exchange principles emphasise resource efficiency and system effectiveness (Cunningham et al., 2002), which closely align with the fundamental principles of LSS. This disparity provides an opportunity for future research to gain a better understanding of how different applications can be used to better support the principles of loop, share, virtualisation and regeneration in the agribusiness industry.

Several observations in the different applications of Lean, Six Sigma and LSS to support CE principles in agribusiness have been noted in the reviewed articles. Firstly, LSS is the only application identified in the reviewed articles that has addressed all the CE principles (i.e. regenerate, virtualisation, share, loop, exchange and optimise) under the ReSOLVE framework. This finding reaffirms LSS being highly adaptable to support CE principles through process improvements that can effectively facilitate the implementation of circular strategies. These results are supported by Skalli et al. (2022), who highlighted the positive interrelationship between LSS and CE. Likewise, Salibi et al. (2022) demonstrated the alignment between Lean and CE by introducing the concept of “Circular Lean” because both approaches share common goals related to waste management (Oliveira et al., 2022).

Next, there is limited recognition across all different applications about supporting the regeneration and virtualisation principles in agribusiness. A possible explanation is that advancements in digital technologies have increasingly facilitated virtualisation by improving accessibility and enabling digital solutions (Chen et al., 2023). This indicates that there are significant gaps in the literature to be filled and provides an opportunity for future research to gain further insights about these two principles within the agribusiness context. Thirdly, it is observed that Lean and Six Sigma applications have only focused on both share and optimisation principles. A possible reason may be that the key focus of these approaches lies in process optimisation, which drives cost reduction through enhanced operational efficiencies (Gadialdean et al., 2025). This prompts an opportunity to further expand the investigation into other CE principles, so that further understanding can be attained from the Lean and Six Sigma perspectives.

According to Figure 13, approximately 94% of the reviewed papers have addressed the economic pillar of sustainability, whereas the environmental and societal pillars have accounted for 33.3% and 19.4%, respectively, in agribusiness. These findings align with the study by Barcia et al. (2022) that revealed LSS practices positively addressed 83% of the economic indicators, 78% of the environmental indicators and 70% of the social indicators across different industries, including agribusiness. Furthermore, Pierli et al. (2025) highlighted that the Lean approach is strongly associated with economic performance, and often considered environmental outcomes as secondary effects due to the difficulties in measuring environmental variables. Table 4 outlines the key sustainability factors identified in the reviewed articles.

There are two notable observations on the different applications of Lean and Six Sigma towards sustainability pillars in the reviewed articles. Firstly, different applications of Lean and Six Sigma towards economic and societal pillars are evident, suggesting that these two pillars are receiving adequate attention in the agribusiness sector. The key findings in the economic pillar have focused on increasing profits (Cox and Chicksand, 2005; Zokaei and Simons, 2006), productivity (Dora et al., 2013; Fernandes Junior and Pinto, 2020), process capabilities (Amani et al., 2015), performance and competitiveness (Singh et al., 2019; Aytekin et al., 2023). On the other hand, much of the attention on the societal pillar is related to improvements in work environment (Dora et al., 2015), hygiene facilities (Rifqi et al., 2021), other social and safety benefits (Satolo et al., 2017) and adhering to government standards (Elaradi et al., 2023). These findings align with other studies (e.g. Rane et al., 2023) conducted in different industries that supported the contributions of the application of Lean, Six Sigma and LSS towards achieving sustainability through economic and social development. However, a potential research opportunity existed to examine the use of Six Sigma application towards the societal pillar as it remains very limited in the existing literature.

Secondly, the environmental pillar was only addressed by Lean and LSS applications, where the key findings are mainly associated with reducing carbon dioxide footprint and other emissions (Ortiz Porras et al., 2023; Sharma et al., 2023), enhancing reuse, recovery and making compost from waste (Powell et al., 2017; Rifqi et al., 2021; Elaradi et al., 2023). While researcher (e.g. Herrmann et al., 2008) have highlighted the positive impact of Lean and Six Sigma on environmental performance, which contributes to sustainability, however, other studies (e.g. Utama and Abirfatin, 2023) found environmental concerns in agribusiness to be less evident as compared to other sectors. This observation suggests an opportunity for future research to gain further insights about the impact of the environmental pillar on sustainability in agribusiness.

This study makes several theoretical contributions. Firstly, it fills the gaps in the existing literature by expanding knowledge on the different applications of Lean, Six Sigma and LSS in the agribusiness context. Insights have been provided on how different applications are used across agribusiness activities, as well as their roles contributing to achieving CE principles towards sustainability goals in agribusiness (Zironi et al., 2024). The emerging importance of integrating Green Lean, Green Lean Six Sigma and Design for LSS applications in agribusiness has also extended the existing knowledge in these areas, which remain limited. Secondly, it contributes to further understanding of the utilisation of the ReSOLVE framework in measuring CE principles in the agribusiness industry. Findings revealed how relationships are established between Lean, Six Sigma and LSS using the ReSOLVE framework within CE principles and the sustainability practices in agribusiness (Payne and Kwofie, 2024). This study provides a structured pathway for agribusinesses to measure how operational practices contribute to CE outcomes through the ReSOLVE framework. Thirdly, this study extends the work of Yadav et al. (2023) on the drivers of LSS towards sustainability in different industries by investigating the key sustainability factors on the applications of Lean, Six Sigma and LSS in agribusiness. Findings provided insights about the different applications used and their impact towards the economic, societal and environmental pillars of sustainability in the agribusiness context. Furthermore, theoretical knowledge has been broadened through an understanding of the relationship between different applications, sustainability and the CE in agribusiness.

From a practical standpoint, this study contributes to a better understanding of how agribusinesses implement Lean and Six Sigma as a strategic tool to address critical sustainability issues, such as financial constraints, improve productivity, streamline the agribusiness process and waste management (Talapatra and Gaine, 2019). This can assist decision makers to determine whether to apply these approaches individually or combine them strategically to achieve the desired objectives from a sustainability perspective (Taylor et al., 2013). Furthermore, it helps agribusinesses appreciate the important role that Lean, Six Sigma and LSS play in the implementation of the CE principles, which can help facilitate their goal towards achieving sustainability (Utama and Abirfatin, 2023). This provides a guide to developing an implementation plan that could have a significant economic and commercial impact on the business (Farrukh et al., 2023).

In conclusion, this systematic literature review examined the impact of Lean, Six Sigma and LSS on sustainability in agribusiness through the lens of the CE framework. The reviewed articles suggest diverse applications of Lean and Six Sigma, implemented either independently, integrated with green concepts or as part of Design for LSS. There is a predominant use of the DMAIC methodology over DMADV, indicating a stronger focus on process improvement rather than new product development within agribusiness. Among the LSS principles, waste elimination is most frequently addressed, while eliminating process variations is least mentioned. Although a clear alignment between LSS and CE principles in agribusiness has been observed, agri-waste regeneration appears to be lacking. It is also revealed that LSS is an appropriate strategic tool to be used in agribusiness for strengthening CE principles (optimise and exchange) in enhancing resource efficiency and circulation. Furthermore, the adoption of CE and LSS principles towards ecosystem restoration can potentially lead to a better outcome for agribusinesses. Further exploration of the CE principle of regeneration and LSS could present insights that are beneficial for agribusinesses. This study also confirms that LSS principles contribute to the economic, environmental and social pillars of sustainability and indicates Lean, Six Sigma and LSS as strategic tools for advancing sustainability goals in agribusiness, reinforcing their relevance within the CE framework.

There are several future research opportunities identified in this study. Firstly, the use of the DMADV method in agribusiness to develop innovative agri-products and processes is underutilised and needs further examination. Secondly, future research is encouraged to investigate the different applications of Lean and Six Sigma within the agribusiness context in other geographical regions (e.g. Asian, Oceania) and countries (e.g. China, Russia, France, Mexico). Next, there are also research gaps to be filled in the agribusiness context, where the application of Lean, Six Sigma and LSS towards the principles of continuous improvement, eliminating waste and reducing lead time, achieving perfection and eliminating process variation remains limited. A lack of understanding about the alignment of CE principles in agribusiness warrants future research, particularly in the application of Lean, Six Sigma and LSS towards the principles of regeneration, virtualisation, share, loop and exchange. Further research studies are also proposed to explore the impact of the application of Lean and Six Sigma in agribusiness associated with the social and environmental pillars of sustainability.

There are several limitations in this study. Firstly, the systematic literature review has been conducted specifically in relation to the application of Lean, Six Sigma and LSS in the agribusiness context. Next, the reviewed articles have been obtained from certain databases (e.g. Scopus, Web of Science) for the period between 2005 and 2024. Thirdly, the applications of DMAIC and DMADV in agribusiness have regional differences that may lead to biases. Furthermore, the ReSOLVE (i.e. Regenerate, Share, Optimise, Loop, Virtualise and Exchange) framework has been used to determine the CE principles, and the three key pillars of sustainability (i.e. economic, societal and environmental) have been used in the study.