Digital Technologies, Circular Economy Practices and Environmental Policies in the Era of COVID-19

Syed Abdul Rehman Khan; Pablo Ponce; George Thomas; Zhang Yu; Mohammad Saad Al-Ahmadi; Muhammad Tanveer

doi:10.3390/su132212790

Digital Technologies, Circular Economy Practices and Environmental Policies in the Era of COVID-19

Syed Abdul Rehman Khan, Pablo Ponce, George Thomas, Zhang Yu, Mohammad Saad Al-Ahmadi, Muhammad Tanveer^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Information Systems and Operations Management

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

118 Scopus citations

Abstract

The degradation of the environment is associated with economic activity, particularly with the linear way in which the economy does not make efficient use of resources. However, the circular economy is opposed to this linear paradigm, since it makes the most of the resources in trying to achieve zero waste. In this context, this study investigates the relationship between industry 4.0 technologies, COVID-19 outbreak, environmental regulation policies and circular economy practices. A questionnaire is designed to collect information from 214 big and private manufacturing firms in Ecuador, and subsequently, through CB-SEM, the information is processed, and the study paths are validated. The results suggest that industry 4.0 technologies and environmental regulation policies are driving circular economy practices during the pandemic. The study finds no evidence favoring COVID-19 being a determining factor in the adoption of the circular economy. The results provide a policy framework for the adoption of a circular economy.

Original language	English
Article number	12790
Journal	Sustainability
Volume	13
Issue number	22
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.3390/su132212790
State	Published - 1 Nov 2021

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgments: This research is supported by the Beijing Key Laboratory of Urban Spatial Information Engineering (No. 20210218). Furthermore, all authors of this article would like to thank the Prince Sultan University for its financial and academic support to publish this paper in “Sustainability”.

Funding Information:
Funding: This research is supported by the Beijing Key Laboratory of Urban Spatial Information Engineering (No. 20210218) and the APC funded by Prince Sultan University.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

Keywords

Circular economy
COVID-19
Environmental regulations
Industry 4.0
Manufacturing supply chains

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Computer Science (miscellaneous)
Geography, Planning and Development
Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
Building and Construction
Environmental Science (miscellaneous)
Energy Engineering and Power Technology
Hardware and Architecture
Computer Networks and Communications
Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.3390/su132212790

Cite this

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title = "Digital Technologies, Circular Economy Practices and Environmental Policies in the Era of COVID-19",

abstract = "The degradation of the environment is associated with economic activity, particularly with the linear way in which the economy does not make efficient use of resources. However, the circular economy is opposed to this linear paradigm, since it makes the most of the resources in trying to achieve zero waste. In this context, this study investigates the relationship between industry 4.0 technologies, COVID-19 outbreak, environmental regulation policies and circular economy practices. A questionnaire is designed to collect information from 214 big and private manufacturing firms in Ecuador, and subsequently, through CB-SEM, the information is processed, and the study paths are validated. The results suggest that industry 4.0 technologies and environmental regulation policies are driving circular economy practices during the pandemic. The study finds no evidence favoring COVID-19 being a determining factor in the adoption of the circular economy. The results provide a policy framework for the adoption of a circular economy.",

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AU - Tanveer, Muhammad

N1 - Funding Information: Acknowledgments: This research is supported by the Beijing Key Laboratory of Urban Spatial Information Engineering (No. 20210218). Furthermore, all authors of this article would like to thank the Prince Sultan University for its financial and academic support to publish this paper in “Sustainability”. Funding Information: Funding: This research is supported by the Beijing Key Laboratory of Urban Spatial Information Engineering (No. 20210218) and the APC funded by Prince Sultan University. Publisher Copyright: © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

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Digital Technologies, Circular Economy Practices and Environmental Policies in the Era of COVID-19

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

UN SDGs

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