Sustainability Route for Industry 4.0: The Future of Global Circular Economic Transition

Abstract

The traditional linear models have proved to be ineffective in perspective of the limited resources of the earth and there is an intensifying stress on the resource side due to the ever-rising global population. Moreover, this results in the unsustainable and inefficient consumption of natural resources, increasing costs of commodities and volatility in the markets, which are unaffordable for the manufacturing base of our economy. The current business models based on the traditional economic policies are not only blindly followed globally but they also neglect the organizational specifics. The circular economy or closed-loop economy is an approach in which the waste or residuals from an industry can be used as raw material for another industry there by reducing the demand on earth’s natural resources. The expected ultimate goal of this circular system is the reduction of gap between the organizational characteristics like profitability, organizational structure and decision making policies, market position and the adoption of circular economic practices.