Supply chain in a circular economy: a multidimensional research agenda

Abstract

This paper focuses on analysing and synthesising the extant research published on supply chains in the context of circular economy. Circular supply chain (CSC) broadly relates to remanufacturing, reusing and recycling processes in the circular economy in which at every stage of a product’s lifecycle consideration is given to the most efficient use of resources (Genovese et al., 2015). The Circular Economy promoted by the European Commission includes industrial systems that are restorative by purpose, shifting production patterns from linear (‘take-make-consume-dispose’) to circular (closed-loop) models of material flows. Many industries have recently moved toward a circular model of operations to extend the life cycle of products, and notably where organisations from diverse sectors can play a collaborative role (Geng et al., 2012). Other significant factors under scrutiny where closed-loop architectures can have a positive effect are rising costs and environmental impacts of raw materials acquisition, by-products handling and disposal processes (Su et al., 2013). Given that this is a new area, it is timely to examine the development of research and innovative actions that provide industry and commerce with both the strategy and the necessary tools to move towards a circular supply chain model effectively (Govindan, Soleimani and Kannan, 2015). In this context, we aim to answer the following questions: 1. How a “circular supply chain” has been conceptualized in the literature and how it is interrelated to other similar concepts? 2. Which management theory/theories underpin and are used to explain “circular supply chain”? 3. What are the drivers and barriers that influence circular supply chain implementation?