Sustainable supply chain management in a circular economy—towards supply circles

Abstract

In the last few years, the circular economy has attracted increasing attention as a way to overcome the problems of the current production and consumption model based on continuous growth and increasing resource throughput. A circular economy is an industrial system that is restorative or regenerative by intention and design. Although supply chains are the key unit of action in the change towards a circular economy, the academic literature on supply chain management approaches in a circular economy is very much in its infancy. However, two distinct literature streams, namely sustainable supply chain management and product service systems, seem to offer valuable insights into the investigation of supply chain management in a circular economy. The aim of this paper is to analyse the main characteristics and challenges of supply chain management in a circular economy and identify how these two literature streams can contribute to researching it.