Information Flows Supporting Circular Economy Adoption in the Manufacturing Sector

Abstract

Circular economy (CE) is considered one of the drivers pushing towards sustainable development. Indeed, this economy is defined as an “industrial economy that is regenerative and restorative by intention and design” and thus, it boosts responsible consumption and production which is one the sustainable goals promoted by policymakers. In particular, from the extant literature emerged that to pursue the transition towards CE, manufacturers adopt different CE strategies. Their implementation implies to have a clear vision about stakeholders involved along product life cycle and about the implications that are encountered during the decision process of the producer thus, by its companies’ functions. Indeed, all the actors involved should operate concurrently for a single and common direction. For this reason, the objective of the present work is to investigate the vertical information flow within a manufacturing company at strategic, tactical and operational levels while adopting CE strategies to appropriately manage product lifecycle. The paper objective is pursued through a literature review on Scopus together with practitioners’ interviews. The outcome is the development of a conceptual framework to support the decision process. The framework structures the information flow for adopting CE across the three levels above mentioned. Indeed, the main finding of this research is the key role of information as a facilitator for the adoption of CE strategies in manufacturing.