Table 6 Industry 4.0 and the CE: An... | Emerald Publishing

Table 6

Industry 4.0 and the CE: An overview with references to SD

Technologies	Descriptions	Circular economy principles	Sustainable development	Sources
Artificial Intelligence	Artificial intelligence is the creation of computers capable of learning, making decisions without human intervention, and self-correcting in ways that imitate human intelligence	Reduce ⁃ Reduce Energy consumption ⁃ Reduce water consumption ⁃ Cradle-to-Grave ⁃ Reduce material consumption ⁃ Raw materials turnaround ⁃ Reduce carbon emissions ⁃ Reduce waste in production and processing ⁃ Reduce unavoidable waste by-products ⁃ Cradle-to-Cradle ⁃ Cradle-to-Gate ⁃ Just-in-time manufacturing Reuse/Resale ⁃ Renewable Energy ⁃ Reuse products, parts, materials ⁃ Product by product ⁃ Reuse water ⁃ Reuse plastic Packaging ⁃ Redistribute ⁃ Technical cycle ⁃ Operate circular business models ⁃ Material efficiency ⁃ product-as-a-service models Recycle ⁃ Waste To Energy Productivity ⁃ Recyclability ⁃ Waste Material Recycling ⁃ Hazardous materials recycling ⁃ Packaging, Plastic, recycling ⁃ Downcycling ⁃ Recycle- raw materials ⁃ Horizontal recycling ⁃ Open-loop recycling Recycle by Circularity Remanufacture/Reproduce ⁃ Reproduce by original parts or material ⁃ Repair products and parts ⁃ Resource Digitalisation Producer ⁃ Supplier Responsibility ⁃ Re-engineer products and components ⁃ Refurbish ⁃ Design for durability ⁃ End-Of-Life ⁃ Design for disassembly Redesign ⁃ Redesign old products and parts ⁃ Repurpose products and parts, services ⁃ Extend the Product Life Cycle ⁃ Eco-design ⁃ Regenerative energy ⁃ water, and waste productivity ⁃ Repair ⁃ Sharing ⁃ Cybernetics ⁃ Design circular products, components ⁃ Cascading Recover ⁃ waste recovery ⁃ Waste hierarchy ⁃ Recover Product, Parts ⁃ Waste to the energy recovery rate ⁃ Recover natural resources from waste ⁃ Reverse Logistics ⁃ Lifecycle Care Services Footprint ⁃ Lean manufacturing ⁃ Landfill diversion	Economic Performance ⁃ Competitive Advantage ⁃ Long-range planning ⁃ R & D ⁃ Cost of living ⁃ Product Cost Saving ⁃ Profitability ⁃ Operational Efficiency ⁃ Risk management ⁃ Profit margin ⁃ Total stakeholder returns ⁃ Green Market Potential Social Performance ⁃ Job Creation ⁃ Community development ⁃ Social stability ⁃ Quality of life ⁃ Equal opportunity ⁃ Law and Ethics ⁃ Human Right ⁃ Knowledge Sharing ⁃ Cultural Identity ⁃ Stakeholders' satisfaction ⁃ New business opportunity ⁃ Poverty elevation ⁃ Health and wellbeing ⁃ Labor rights ⁃ Community relationship Environmental Performance ⁃ Resource Preservation ⁃ Reduce Energy consumption ⁃ Reduce water consumption ⁃ Reduce Pollution ⁃ Reduce carbon emissions ⁃ Environmental Protection ⁃ Habitat Restoration and Preservation ⁃ Lower use of version material ⁃ Improve material transparency ⁃ Climate change mitigation ⁃ Reduction GHGs ⁃ Deforestation ⁃ Biodiversity	⁃ Wynn and Wiegand (2025) ⁃ Wynn and Jones (2022) ⁃ Agrawal et al. (2025) ⁃ Roshan et al. (2024) ⁃ Mohapatra et al. (2024) ⁃ Sahoo et al. (2023) ⁃ Bai et al. (2023) ⁃ Alkaraan et al. (2023) ⁃ Alkaraan et al. (2024) ⁃ Sánchez-Garcia et al. (2024) ⁃ Nazir et al. (2025) ⁃ Nazir et al. (2024) ⁃ Barnabè and Nazir (2021) ⁃ Barnabè and Nazir (2022) ⁃ Virmani et al. (2024) ⁃ Agrawal et al. (2022) ⁃ Yadav et al. (2024) ⁃ Neri et al. (2025) ⁃ Piedra-Muñoz et al. (2025) ⁃ Bücker et al. (2025) ⁃ Sun et al. (2025)
Blockchain Technology	Blockchain technology is a digital, distributed, and decentralised ledger in which transactions are recorded and added in chronological order to create permanent, unchangeable records. Blockchain also supports smart contracts, which are pieces of code that are automatically and independently executed by computers
The IoT	The IoT enables wireless communication between human devices, computers, and sensors, making data accessible from any location. The technology is a highly sophisticated and widely distributed networked system composed of multiple intelligent objects that can generate and share information
Simulation Technology	Industry 4.0 encompasses various types of technologies. Simulation technology involves creating a computer-generated model that closely mimics the behaviour of a real-world system or process
Additive Manufacturing	Additive manufacturing is a disruptive innovation that aims to produce product components without specialised, sophisticated equipment. It involves fusing materials to form a three-dimensional model from a digital design, thereby accelerating production timelines and connecting engineers, designers, and customers
Cloud Computing	Cloud computing is a technology that provides a range of online services and enables remote access to information stored elsewhere
Cyber-Physical System	A cyber-physical system is a technological computer system that integrates components and machines in the manufacturing process through the exchange of data and instructions via physical processes, cyberspace, control, and sensing. This technology helps collect real-time data to prioritise manufacturing orders, optimise tasks, and identify maintenance needs
Big Data Analytics	Big data analytics helps process large amounts of data from various sources, including both structured and unstructured data, to support decision-making and facilitate data mining, predictive analytics, and other applications

Technologies	Descriptions	Circular economy principles	Sustainable development	Sources
Artificial Intelligence	Artificial intelligence is the creation of computers capable of learning, making decisions without human intervention, and self-correcting in ways that imitate human intelligence	Reduce ⁃ Reduce Energy consumption ⁃ Reduce water consumption ⁃ Cradle-to-Grave ⁃ Reduce material consumption ⁃ Raw materials turnaround ⁃ Reduce carbon emissions ⁃ Reduce waste in production and processing ⁃ Reduce unavoidable waste by-products ⁃ Cradle-to-Cradle ⁃ Cradle-to-Gate ⁃ Just-in-time manufacturing Reuse/Resale ⁃ Renewable Energy ⁃ Reuse products, parts, materials ⁃ Product by product ⁃ Reuse water ⁃ Reuse plastic Packaging ⁃ Redistribute ⁃ Technical cycle ⁃ Operate circular business models ⁃ Material efficiency ⁃ product-as-a-service models Recycle ⁃ Waste To Energy Productivity ⁃ Recyclability ⁃ Waste Material Recycling ⁃ Hazardous materials recycling ⁃ Packaging, Plastic, recycling ⁃ Downcycling ⁃ Recycle- raw materials ⁃ Horizontal recycling ⁃ Open-loop recycling Recycle by CircularityRemanufacture/Reproduce ⁃ Reproduce by original parts or material ⁃ Repair products and parts ⁃ Resource Digitalisation Producer ⁃ Supplier Responsibility ⁃ Re-engineer products and components ⁃ Refurbish ⁃ Design for durability ⁃ End-Of-Life ⁃ Design for disassembly Redesign ⁃ Redesign old products and parts ⁃ Repurpose products and parts, services ⁃ Extend the Product Life Cycle ⁃ Eco-design ⁃ Regenerative energy ⁃ water, and waste productivity ⁃ Repair ⁃ Sharing ⁃ Cybernetics ⁃ Design circular products, components ⁃ Cascading Recover ⁃ waste recovery ⁃ Waste hierarchy ⁃ Recover Product, Parts ⁃ Waste to the energy recovery rate ⁃ Recover natural resources from waste ⁃ Reverse Logistics ⁃ Lifecycle Care Services Footprint ⁃ Lean manufacturing ⁃ Landfill diversion	Economic Performance ⁃ Competitive Advantage ⁃ Long-range planning ⁃ R & D ⁃ Cost of living ⁃ Product Cost Saving ⁃ Profitability ⁃ Operational Efficiency ⁃ Risk management ⁃ Profit margin ⁃ Total stakeholder returns ⁃ Green Market Potential Social Performance ⁃ Job Creation ⁃ Community development ⁃ Social stability ⁃ Quality of life ⁃ Equal opportunity ⁃ Law and Ethics ⁃ Human Right ⁃ Knowledge Sharing ⁃ Cultural Identity ⁃ Stakeholders' satisfaction ⁃ New business opportunity ⁃ Poverty elevation ⁃ Health and wellbeing ⁃ Labor rights ⁃ Community relationship Environmental Performance ⁃ Resource Preservation ⁃ Reduce Energy consumption ⁃ Reduce water consumption ⁃ Reduce Pollution ⁃ Reduce carbon emissions ⁃ Environmental Protection ⁃ Habitat Restoration and Preservation ⁃ Lower use of version material ⁃ Improve material transparency ⁃ Climate change mitigation ⁃ Reduction GHGs ⁃ Deforestation ⁃ Biodiversity	⁃ Wynn and Wiegand (2025) ⁃ Wynn and Jones (2022) ⁃ Agrawal et al. (2025) ⁃ Roshan et al. (2024) ⁃ Mohapatra et al. (2024) ⁃ Sahoo et al. (2023) ⁃ Bai et al. (2023) ⁃ Alkaraan et al. (2023) ⁃ Alkaraan et al. (2024) ⁃ Sánchez-Garcia et al. (2024) ⁃ Nazir et al. (2025) ⁃ Nazir et al. (2024) ⁃ Barnabè and Nazir (2021) ⁃ Barnabè and Nazir (2022) ⁃ Virmani et al. (2024) ⁃ Agrawal et al. (2022) ⁃ Yadav et al. (2024) ⁃ Neri et al. (2025) ⁃ Piedra-Muñoz et al. (2025) ⁃ Bücker et al. (2025) ⁃ Sun et al. (2025)
Blockchain Technology	Blockchain technology is a digital, distributed, and decentralised ledger in which transactions are recorded and added in chronological order to create permanent, unchangeable records. Blockchain also supports smart contracts, which are pieces of code that are automatically and independently executed by computers
The IoT	The IoT enables wireless communication between human devices, computers, and sensors, making data accessible from any location. The technology is a highly sophisticated and widely distributed networked system composed of multiple intelligent objects that can generate and share information
Simulation Technology	Industry 4.0 encompasses various types of technologies. Simulation technology involves creating a computer-generated model that closely mimics the behaviour of a real-world system or process
Additive Manufacturing	Additive manufacturing is a disruptive innovation that aims to produce product components without specialised, sophisticated equipment. It involves fusing materials to form a three-dimensional model from a digital design, thereby accelerating production timelines and connecting engineers, designers, and customers
Cloud Computing	Cloud computing is a technology that provides a range of online services and enables remote access to information stored elsewhere
Cyber-Physical System	A cyber-physical system is a technological computer system that integrates components and machines in the manufacturing process through the exchange of data and instructions via physical processes, cyberspace, control, and sensing. This technology helps collect real-time data to prioritise manufacturing orders, optimise tasks, and identify maintenance needs
Big Data Analytics	Big data analytics helps process large amounts of data from various sources, including both structured and unstructured data, to support decision-making and facilitate data mining, predictive analytics, and other applications