Gianmarco Bressanelli | University of Brescia (original) (raw)

Papers by Gianmarco Bressanelli

Circular Economy and Sustainability, 2024

Digital technologies may enable the adoption of Circular Economy models in production and consump... more Digital technologies may enable the adoption of Circular Economy models in production and consumption processes, thereby promoting environmental sustainability. Literature on these topics has grown exponentially over the last decades, focusing on the adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies and its implications for environmental sustainability or circularity. However, extant literature reviews failed to cover the vast amount of literature produced, since they either have a narrow scope or focus on a limited sample of articles. To fill this gap, a bibliometric literature review was carried out on a sample of 1002 scientific articles on Circular Economy, Industry 4.0 technologies, and environmental sustainability. Descriptive statistics are coupled with a cluster-based analysis to provide a comprehensive coverage of the broader subject matter. Eight research clusters have been identified, with two general clusters (linkages between Industry 4.0, Circular Economy, environmental sustainability) and six topic-specific clusters (Big Data analytics for supply chain circularity, circular and sustainable additive manufacturing, urban sustainability, sustainable circular and digital (re)manufacturing, blockchain and data integration for a sustainable Circular Economy, miscellaneous and sectorial applications). Clusters are discussed in terms of research themes, methodologies, technologies, and circular strategies. Finally, a research agenda is drafted, pointing out six cluster-specific and four more transversal research directions. Hence, this research offers a detailed and quantitative overview of the research landscape, helping researchers and managers in understanding past contributions, assessing current standings, and identifying future directions of the research at the intersection of Industry 4.0 technologies, environmental sustainability, and Circular Economy.

Journal of Cleaner Production, 2024

Manufacturing companies are struggling with the implementation of Circular Economy, especially du... more Manufacturing companies are struggling with the implementation of Circular Economy, especially due to the uncertainty regarding its potential sustainability benefits. In particular, and despite digital servitization is advocated by several studies as a way to achieve environmental gains, circular business models based on digital servitization are not always sustainable due to burden shifting and unexpected consequences which are difficult to assess before implementation. This is particularly relevant for the Electrical and Electronics Equipment industry, which suffers structural weaknesses such as the dependance on critical raw materials and an increasing waste generation. However, literature lacks models and tools able to address the complexity inherent in the systemic micro-macro perspective envisioned by Circular Economy, while studies that quantitatively assess the sustainability impacts and trade-offs of digital servitization-based circular scenarios are limited. This article aims to develop a better understanding of how the sustainability impacts of circular and servitized scenarios can be assessed and quantified at the economic, environmental, and social level, adopting a systemic perspective through the development of a what-if simulation model. The model is implemented in a spreadsheet tool and applied to a digital servitization-based Circular Economy scenario inspired by the case of a company offering long-lasting, high-efficient washing machines as-a-service. Results show that digital servitization can actually lead to a win-win-win situation with net positive effects to the environment, the society, and the economy. This result is based on the joint application of product design for digitalization and life extension, pay-per-use business models, and product reuse. These results are robust within a significant range of key parameters values. Practitioners and policymakers may use the model to support the evaluation of different circular and servitized scenarios before implementation.

Towards the circular supply chain: A literature review of challenges, 2018

The notion of Circular Economy (CE) has been arisen as a promising approach to promote sustainabi... more The notion of Circular Economy (CE) has been arisen as a promising approach to promote sustainability without compromising economic growth. However, companies who are going to redesign their supply chain to adopt the CE paradigm face several challenges. Despite their relevance in such an early stage of CE practices adoption by companies, literature still lacks a systemic and holistic identification of this set of challenges. In fact, previous research either focused on a particular industrial sector, on a geographical context, on a specific firm category or by limiting the analysis to only some CE aspect. Therefore, this paper carries out a literature review to identify the main challenges that companies have to face when they want to redesign their supply chain according to CE principles, i.e. to implement a circular supply chain. As much as 24 challenges have been identified and classified in accordance with the life cycle phase(s) affected and the CE lever(s) touched as recognized in literature, i.e. product redesign, servitised business models, reverse logistics and system enablers (e.g. legislation or digital 4.0 technologies). Findings highlight the multidisciplinary character of CE, and show that the challenges are quite distributed among the different life cycle phases, implying that companies who desire to implement a circular supply chain should be prepared to face challenges related to both the direct and the reverse flows of materials, despite the common thinking that CE is only related to reverse logistics. Moreover, findings show that a non-negligible number of challenges arises within each CE lever, thus confirming the need for a systemic and holistic approach. Managers may use the set of challenges to prevent likely barriers that arise in the transition towards CE.

Sustainable Production and Consumption, 2023

The transition towards Circular Economy is needed, all the more in industries with a harmful envi... more The transition towards Circular Economy is needed, all the more in industries with a harmful environmental impact such as the textile and fashion ones. This transformation, however, presents several challenges. While these challenges have been widely investigated in literature, solutions to overcome them have received much less attention to date. Practices and strategies proposed by the literature are still largely fragmented and not interpreted through an overarching theory, which prevents the understanding of how circular supply chains should be managed and coordinated. Therefore, this paper proposes a circular supply chain orchestration approach to understand responses to Circular Economy adoption barriers in the textile and fashion supply chains. A multiple case study has been carried out in the Prato (Italy) regenerated wool district, which has been practicing Circular Economy for more than a century. The paper contributes to knowledge accumulation on circular supply chain orchestration by integrating the resource orchestration, supply chain orchestration and Circular Economy streams. It adopts this perspective as a theoretical lens to analyse responses to challenges and, in particular, to operationalize the general orchestration mechanisms pointed out in the extant literature. Our study also provides support to managers in the textile supply chain to design challenge-response orchestration mechanisms in the move towards Circular Economy.

The digital age we live in offers companies many opportunities to jointly advance sustainability ... more The digital age we live in offers companies many opportunities to jointly advance sustainability and competitiveness. New digital technologies can, in fact, support the incorporation of circular economy principles into businesses, enabling new business models and facilitating the redesign of products and value chains. Despite this considerable potential, the convergence between the circular economy and these technologies is still underinvestigated. By reviewing the literature, this paper aims to provide a definition and a conceptual framework, which systematize the smart circular economy paradigm as an industrial system that uses digital technologies during the product life-cycle phases to implement circular strategies and practices aimed at value creation. Following this conceptualization, the classical, underlying circular economy principle, ‘waste equals food’, is reshaped into an equation more fitting for the digital age—that is to say, ‘waste + data = resource’. Lastly, this paper provides promising research directions to further develop this field. To advance knowledge on the smart circular economy paradigm, researchers and practitioners are advised to: (i) develop research from exploratory and descriptive to confirmatory and prescriptive purposes, relying on a wide spectrum of research methodologies; (ii) move the focus from single organizations to the entire ecosystem and value chain of stakeholders; (iii) combine different enabling digital technologies to leverage their synergistic potential; and (iv) assess the environmental impact of digital technologies to prevent potential rebound effects.

Sustainable Production, Life Cycle Engineering and Management

Sustainability, 2022

Circular economy is gaining attention in business and society to advance sustainability. This par... more Circular economy is gaining attention in business and society to advance sustainability. This paradigm is particularly relevant for energy-consuming products such as washing machines, where alternatives to linear economy such as pay-per-use and refurbishment are gaining ground. To succeed, these business models should achieve consensus and acceptance among users. However, little attention has been paid to customers’ interest for circular economy business models so far. This paper aims to compare the economic and environmental impacts of pay-per wash and refurbishment business models, while investigating the degree of users’ acceptance and factors influencing it. A survey has been designed to collect users’ data regarding washing machine consumption patterns and acceptance rates of the circular business models. An evaluation model was developed to assess the economic and environmental impacts of pay-per-wash and refurbishment against a traditional linear model, fed with data from 279 Italian households collected through the survey. Finally, logistic regressions were carried out to investigate the influence of different customer, product, and usage factors on the acceptance rates of the two circular business models. Results show that, on average, pay-per-wash business models and washing machine refurbishment can guarantee environmental savings. However, only refurbishment generates economic savings for users. Moreover, only around half of the users’ sample shows a positive degree of acceptance of such alternatives. Respondent age has been found as a significant factor influencing the interest towards a refurbishment model, while the washing machine failures experienced by users and the relevance of the environmental gains achievable influence the acceptance rate of pay-per-wash models. Thus, when offering pay-per-wash schemes, suppliers should emphasize the information on the environmental benefits of this alternative, and that with such models they take over the responsibility and costs for maintenance and repair. On the other hand, providers of refurbished products should target younger consumers, who are less affected by a bias against second-hand goods.

International Journal of Production Economics, 2021

Circular Economy promises to achieve sustainability by decoupling economic growth from resource e... more Circular Economy promises to achieve sustainability by decoupling economic growth from resource extraction and environmental losses. However, it requires a systemic change in the design of products, business models and supply chains. In this study the evolution of the supply chain structure and relationships is addressed in the specific context of industrial districtsi.e., agglomerations of small-medium-sized firms territorially concentrated and specialised in one or more phases of a production processundergoing a transition to Circular Economy. Through the study of the textile industrial district in Prato (Italy), this study addresses two topics that have been limitedly investigated in the literature. First, the potential role of Circular Economy in revitalising an industrial district in a decline phase. Second, how supply chain structures and relationships should evolve in an industrial district transitioning to Circular Economy. This study outlines the causes triggering industrial districts decline and discusses the factors that can induce a Circular Economy based re-organisation of industrial districts. Consequently, we provide insight to managers on how to successfully couple Circular Economy practices and technological or business model innovations with supply chain management practices. We also provide indications to policymakers on how local and regional actors can support a Circular Economy driven reorganisation of industrial districts. Finally, this study links contributions concerned with the Circular Economy transition, supply chain structure and relationships and evolution trajectories of industrial districts, thus paving the way for a deeper understanding of the interplay among these phenomena.

Journal of Cleaner Production, May 20, 2021

Circular Economy in the Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) supply chain has a significant ... more Circular Economy in the Electrical and Electronic Equipment (EEE) supply chain has a significant (and still unexploited) potential. This paper aims to systematically review the knowledge emerging from the literature at the intersection between Circular Economy and the EEE supply chain, with a special focus on enablers, levers, and their potential environmental, economic and social benefits. An original framework is developed to categorise Circular Economy enablers, levers and potential benefits. Companies in the EEE industry aiming to implement Circular Economy can exploit several enablers (grouped into digitalization, government intervention, and users’ active role) and levers (grouped into circular product design, servitised business models, and supply chain management) to generate economic, environmental and social benefits. Based on the framework, 115 articles were scrutinised. The analysis led to the definition of a research agenda, with policy and industry implications. To advance Circular Economy research in the EEE supply chain, future studies should address: (i) the enabling role of digitalization, particularly within blockchain, 3D Printing, augmented and virtual reality; (ii) design strategies focused on ‘reduce’; (iii) servitised business models based on result-oriented offerings; (iv) collaboration in the EEE supply chain; (v) the assessment of social and economic benefits to users. Future research should also investigate the systemic interrelations between enablers, levers and benefits.

Dear Colleagues, The circular economy is recognized by industrials, scholars, and policymakers a... more Dear Colleagues,

The circular economy is recognized by industrials, scholars, and policymakers as a promising approach to jointly advance the sustainability and competitiveness of supply and value chains, given its ability to decouple economic growth from resource consumption and waste generation. Moving companies towards the circular economy involves fundamental changes in industrial ecosystems and a systemic redesign of business models, supply chains, production processes, products development, and consumption patterns. Several challenges arise in this transformation.

The digital age we live in offers companies many opportunities for overcoming the challenges. Digital 4.0 technologies can support the implementation of circular economy principles into business by enabling new business models and the redesign of value chains, products, and consumption patterns towards a new smart circular economy paradigm.

This issue calls for a more critical discussion and outlook on this topic. We invite articles integrating a system perspective into rigorous research, describing and prescribing how digital technologies can enable the different aspect of the Smart Circular Economy paradigm.

Deadline for manuscript submissions:
31 March 2021

For further information: https://www.mdpi.com/journal/sustainability/special_issues/circular_economy_digital_age

Resources (ISSN 2079-9276), 2020

Circular Economy is a means to ensure sustainable production and consumption patterns. However, i... more Circular Economy is a means to ensure sustainable production and consumption patterns. However, it is still at an embryonic stage of implementation in manufacturing companies. Given its potential, the household appliance industry is a promising arena for the adoption of Circular Economy. Thus, this study aims to investigate and systematize how Circular Economy has been adopted in the household appliance industry, through a multiple case study research. Twenty cases are analyzed following a Research Framework, to map: (i) the Circular Economy 4R strategies of reduce, reuse, remanufacture and recycle; (ii) the Circular Economy levers, i.e., whether circular product design practices, servitized business models or supply chain management actions are undertaken; (iii) the role of digital 4.0 technologies as enablers; (iv) the benefits achieved. The analysis showed that servitized business models and supply chain management actions are widely used levers, while little attention is devoted to circular product design practices. Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data and Cloud emerged as powerful enablers of servitized business models. Two main patterns of Circular Economy adoption in the household appliance industry emerged from cases: incremental and radical adoption patterns. Incremental adoption patterns are based on design strategies focused on reduce and recycle, mainly led by manufacturers. Radical adoption patterns are instead focused on disruptive practices based on reuse, remanufacture, servitization and sharing, where digital 4.0 technologies serve as enablers. Overall, this exploratory research lays the foundation for a stronger and more systemic understanding of the adoption of Circular Economy in the household appliance industry.

Sustainable Production and Consumption, 2020

Environmental pressures and climate change are leading companies and supply chains to consider ne... more Environmental pressures and climate change are leading companies and supply chains to consider new models for environmental protection. Circular Economy emerged as a sustainability paradigm able to decouple economic growth from resource consumption and waste generation. In the Waste from Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) industry there is the need for systematically reviewing what the literature has investigated and found in the light of the Circular Economy perspective. Thus, this paper aims to systematize the extensive scientific literature that exists about sustainability in the WEEE industry with a Circular Economy lens. Overall, 115 articles were selected and analyzed according to four aspects: (i.) objectives and methodology, (ii.) geography and approach, (iii.) actors and life cycle phases, (iv.) Circular Economy 4R scheme of Reduce, Reuse, Remanufacture and Recycle strategies. The analysis led to the identification of several research gaps in the literature, which academia is called to fill. This state-of-the-art review provides ten research directions that constitute the backbone of a research agenda about Circular Economy in the WEEE industry, as well as an improved managerial understanding of this research field.

International Journal of Management and Decision Making, 2019

The literature usually depicts circular economy as a path to embrace sustainability into economic... more The literature usually depicts circular economy as a path to embrace
sustainability into economic systems. Shifting from a linear to a circular
economy leads to environmental and social benefits. However, despite a
growing attention from academia, policymakers and businesses, circular
economy implementation projects are still scarce. One of the reasons is that circular economy scenarios may be challenging from an economic perspective. In order to spur a transition towards circular economy, new methods to support the assessment of economic, environmental and social impacts of circular economy scenarios are needed. This paper presents a systemic framework to support a simplified evaluation of circular economy scenarios. The framework, developed specifically for durable goods, is applied to the washing machine industry, thanks to a case study. The application results show how the framework adoption may contribute to reduce the uncertainties that are often an obstacle to the transition towards circular economy

International Journal of Production Research, 2019

Despite companies face several challenges when redesigning their supply chain for the Circular Ec... more Despite companies face several challenges when redesigning their supply chain for the Circular Economy, the literature lacks a systematisation of such challenges and of the ways to overcome them. Through a systematic literature review, this paper identifies and systematises 24 challenges that may hamper a supply chain redesign for the Circular Economy. Sixteen among these challenges are well known from research in related topics. On the contrary, the remaining eight are relatively new or take a different relevance within the Circular Economy context. A multiple case study in the household appliance supply chain is carried out, to explore how these challenges appear in practice and how companies may tackle them. The cases analysed involve actors at different supply chain levels, and findings suggest that a great degree of vertical integration by one actor in the supply chain is not a necessary condition for Circular Economy implementation. The empirical study, in conjunction with the literature analysis, leads to the development of a framework linking the challenges to specific levers that companies may pursue to overcome them. The framework can be seen as a reference for managers undertaking the path towards Circular Economy

Circular Economy has been usually indicated as a promising approach to promote economic developm... more Circular Economy has been usually indicated as a promising approach to promote economic development and sustainability. Despite this general agreement, the Circular Economy paradigm is still little adopted by companies, as they need to face several challenges. In this context, Product-Service Systems (PSS) Business Models play a major role, as they have been proposed as an opportunity for promoting sustainability. Today, digital technologies are seen as a key factor to enable PSS, allowing at the same time the introduction of Circular Economy into companies. However, little attention has been set on how new digital technologies can overcome in practice the main Circular Economy challenges. To fill this gap, this paper explores such a role through a case study of a company who leverages Internet of Things, Big Data and Analytics in the provision of its PSS Business Model. Based on the findings of the empirical investigation, the role that the selected digital technologies play in overcoming the Circular Economy challenges is presented and discussed

Although circular economy is usually indicated as a way to reconcile economic growth and sustaina... more Although circular economy is usually indicated as a way to reconcile economic growth and sustainability, circular business models and related product-service systems are not implemented on a large scale yet. Providing information about how to develop circular business models and methods to evaluate their expected impacts, can support stakeholders to embrace this transition. To this regard, the aim of this paper is to propose and discuss the actions required for reshaping the washing machine industry towards a circular economy scenario. The paper, based on a recently launched research project, describes a set of actions and develops very preliminary computations of their expected impact. Results show that customers could benefit from an average yearly saving of almost 30% of the current washing cost, while country total electricity generation and water consumption could be reduced of about 0.6% and 1% respectively. Albeit they are only preliminary estimates and further research and empirical validation are certainly needed, these outcomes gives an idea about the order of magnitude of benefits gathered by a circular economy transition for a mass durable consumer goods industry such as washing machines.

Recent studies advocate that digital technologies are key enabling factors for the introduction o... more Recent studies advocate that digital technologies are key enabling factors for the introduction of servitized business models. At the same time, these technologies support the implementation of the circular economy (CE) paradigm into businesses. Despite this general agreement, the literature still overlooks how digital technologies enable such a CE transition. To fill the gap, this paper develops a conceptual framework, based on the literature and a case study of a company implementing a usage-focused servitized business model in the household appliance industry. This study focuses on the Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, and analytics, and identifies eight specific functionalities enabled by such technologies (improving product design, attracting target customers, monitoring and tracking product activity, providing technical support, providing preventive and predictive maintenance, optimizing the product usage, upgrading the product, enhancing renovation and end-of-life activities). By investigating how these functionalities affect three CE value drivers (increasing resource efficiency, extending lifespan, and closing the loop), the conceptual framework developed in this paper advances knowledge about the role of digital technologies as an enabler of the CE within usage-focused business models. Finally, this study shows how digital technologies help overcome the drawback of usage-focused business models for the adoption of CE pointed out by previous literature.