A Comprehensive Study of Blockchain Technology and Its Role in Promoting Sustainability and Circularity across Large-Scale Industry

Abstract

Blockchain technology has evolved as an innovative strategy that substantially transformed industries by offering a variety of applications across multiple domains including manufacturing, construction, supply chain, food, health, energy, transport and retailing industry. By offering a decentralized ledger that enables the source-tracking of materials and goods, blockchain enables a quick, safe, and open information platform. Blockchain is emerging around the globe in industries but limited studies have comprehensively examined its practical implementation toward industrial sustainability and circularity. This paper aimed to provide a comprehensive and thoughtful discussion of blockchain demand, literature gaps in blockchain implementation, type of blockchain platforms in large-scale industries and their contribution toward sustainability by utilizing the systematic literature review methodology. The descriptive analysis of 185 selected articles by thematic analysis provides an overview of the emergence of blockchain over the years and its practical implications in large-scale industries. The novelty of the paper is the in-depth discussion of the major industries of the various sectors that are utilizing different blockchain frameworks, especially P2P, in order to achieve sustainability and circularity in economy. Furthermore, the challenges and barriers that hinder blockchain adoption have also been evaluated.