The way in which industry 4.0(14.

0) technology are helpful in the

implementation of a circular economy
The fourth industrial revolution, i.e. I4.0 enables flexibility, self-organization capabilities, real-
time monitoring and sustainable resource management. It also emphasizes end-to-end
digitalization of all tangible resources and integration into digital environments with the entire
value chain (Hofmann and Rusch, 2017).Industry 4.0 technology enables hybrid strategies such as
advanced data analytics, mass customization, advanced process control, smart manufacturing and total
resource management (Chien et al., 2017; Ozkan-Ozen et al., 2020)

The study further investigates the legal, ethical, operational and demographic issues to monitor the
organization’s performance and skills of the workforce.

These technologies have potential to resolve unsustainable production and consumption issues through
its transition to CE. Further, it can also support disruptive technologies which provide accurate
information of the material flow, resource availability, waste generation and supported longer life of the
products. These technologies provide an opportunity to evaluate growth and development toward the
CE (Chauhan et al., 2019; Nascimento et al., 2019). Therefore, digitalization of the production process
boosts the CE business model by generating a closed-loop system with increased resource utilization,
stock optimization and decision-making support to address these challenges (Antikainen et al., 2018). It
is also considered as a closed-loop supply chain that utilizes the waste generated in the first cycle, and
this waste can be used as feed for the next cycle in the formation of a new product (Winkler, 2011;
Steinmann et al., 2019).

B. It is necessary to move from traditional “throwaway” philosophy of the

liner economy to the circular economy ,which is referred to as CE in their
operations ???

Due to the rapid growth of population and continuous consumption of natural resources, there is a need
for optimum utilization of resources that utilizes the principle of sustainable development. Therefore, it
is necessary to move from the traditional “throwaway” philosophy of the linear economy to the circular
formation, which is referred to as CE. It also emphasizes end-to-end digitalization of all tangible
resources and integration into digital environments with the entire value chain (Hofmann and Rusch,
2017).

The challenges which enterprice face in the adoption of industry 4.0

and circular economy in their operation
However, due to insufficient technological development and nonavailability of essential data,
manufacturers might not know how to collect information on continuing deteriorating resources and
recycled products (Chauhan et al., 2019). Similarly, consumers might hesitate or rigid the quality of
alternatives such as secondary products compared to primary products and abstain from purchasing
sustainably (Jesus and Mendonça, 2018).