Digitalisation as a Tool to Enhance Eco-efficiency Measures: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Digitalisation has become a key process for companies to improve their sustainability, yet a clear overview of the challenges and achievements within European Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) regarding digitalisation is still lacking in the literature, making it difficult to identify research gaps or quantify the impact digitalisation has on the European SME market. This paper examines digitalisation as an enabler for European SMEs to improve their environmental sustainability and specifically considers the implementation of eco-efficiency measures such as waste reduction and waste management and thus confirms whether digitalisation can enhance eco-efficiency measures or not within European SMEs. The study is based on a bibliometric analysis followed by a systematic literature review. In particular, it first synthesizes the existing state-of-the-art research and summarizes theoretical frameworks, to explain main themes and gaps in the literature published from the year 2020. Selected articles focusing on European SMEs and digitalisation practices in the context of eco-efficiency are revised in detail. This review identifies common challenges and opportunities associated with digitalisation in the context of European SMEs while offering pathways to address the research gaps.