circular economy

Digital twins (DT) for circular economy (CE) offer a promising approach as part of digital data ecosystems for more sustainable value creation. By mapping and analyzing product, component and material specific data along the li- fecycle, it is possible to address current challenges such as climate change and resource scarcity. Within Catena-X, specific solutions based on this cross-company exchanged data and information are developed. Here, the “R-Strategy Assistant” is presented. It is an application, which identifies the best CE-Strategy based on DT data at the end of a vehicle's life.

Sustainability is gaining importance and the economy is changing into a circular economy, especially with regard to climate change and the need to create more resilient value chains. The organization of work is meeting these challenges with, among other things, the digitalization of increasingly changeable production. Collecting and understanding data is becoming increasingly complex, as not only internal production data is of interest, but also cross-company sustainability indicators play a role in decision-making. The research results presented under the main topic “Digitization of the work environment for sustainable production” address this problem of compliance with sustainability requirements by means of digitization and its impact on the workplace and workers. The members of the Scientific Society for Work and Business Organisation (WGAB) present innovative concepts and research results for practitioners and scientists and thus provide valuable input for current challenges.

Supply chains have to be designed and managed to handle complexity and uncertainties. Recent events (e.g. Covid-19) have shown how fragile supply chains can be when assumptions for the design and management of supply chains are challenged. In addition, governments are striving for systemic changes towards more sustainability (e.g. European Green Deal). To meet the resulting requirements, the concept of circular economy and with it, circular supply chain management (CSCM) are gaining attention as they could contribute to building a sustainable and resilient system. The German wind energy industry, with its long track record, is a suitable application for further research on CSCM, as the industry operates predominantly in a linear system and relies on finite materials. Despite, research on CSCM for the wind energy industry is still rare. The aim of the paper is therefore to present conceptional ideas that enable an efficient design of a circular wind energy industry in Germany. Aspects ...

Circular Economy is considered one of the most promising concepts on the way to a more sustainable economy. Expectations of a responsible corporate orientation are rising: This is shown by a recent ruling of the Federal Constitutional Court, which demands that Germany must be more ambitious in its climate goals [1]. The EU Green Deal envisages climate neutrality by 2050 and the “Circular Economy Action Plan” calls for more effective use of resources and reserves [2]. This article describes a method that companies can use to develop ideas for circular business models.

The aim of circular economy is to return a used product to the product and production life cycle several times in a value-adding way. This article presents the current industrial practice for a successful circular economy and the associated potentials, based on a definition of circular economy and its principles. Afterwards, existing challenges of the circular economy are analyzed. The article intends to support decision-makers in recognizing the advantages of circular economy and to tackle challenges for a successful introduction at an early stage.