Circular Supply Chain Management in the Wind Energy Industry – A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

The shift to a circular economy and the use of wind energy are key components in achieving the climate goals that some governments like Germany have set for themselves. Nevertheless, the wind energy industry is still predominantly organized as a linear system. Therefore, this paper outlines the existing research on the wind energy supply chain and embeds it in the context of a circular economy. The results show that some aspects of the circular economy have recently gained attention. For instance, the recycling of wind turbine blades is often discussed in literature. However, circular thinking is still underrepresented in supply chain management research. For example, studies on return, recover and deliver processes are rare. By presenting a structured overview of the current state of research, an agenda for future investigations can be derived. Hence, this publication makes a clear contribution towards becoming more circular in the wind energy supply chain.