One of the primary goals of smart cities in India is to make E-waste Management (EWM) more effective and sustainable by integrating Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy (I4.0-CE). Despite this vision, Indian smart cities face numerous hurdles in adopting I4.0-CE for sustainable EWM. Therefore, the study aims to identify and model the critical challenges in adopting I4.0-CE for sustainable EWM in Indian smart cities.
Several significant challenges were identified through a literature review and categorized into various dimensions. The combined AHP-DEMATEL method was utilized to identify significant dimensions, determine priority rankings, and classify the shortlisted critical challenges into cause-and-effect categories.
The review identified 24 critical challenges. First, 12 significant challenges were shortlisted by the AHP approach. Later, by using the DEMATEL approach, six challenges were identified as key influencing challenges that need considerable attention when addressing all critical challenges. These challenges were “Lack of smart technologies for tracking E-waste”, “Insufficient strategies for integration of I4.0 and CE”, “Lack of awareness about I4.0 contributions to reverse logistics of E-waste”, “Lack of awareness about CE practices”, “Inadequate waste management infrastructure”, and “Data Security and Privacy issues.”
The study offers a theoretical framework that highlights significant challenges in implementing I4.0-CE for sustainable EWM in Indian smart cities, including their prioritization and classification into cause-and-effect categories. The framework, validated by the expert team, also proposes various strategies to address the identified critical challenges.
