Digital technologies are a key prerequisite for implementing circular value creation models: they enable transparency in material flows, support repair, reuse, and remanufacturing processes, and form the basis for new sustainable business models. In their study, Dr. Lydia Bühler (Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits IIS), Prof. Dr. Tassilo Schuster (HNU/Fraunhofer IIS), Lara Schmidt (Fraunhofer IIS), and Prof. Dr. Alexander Pflaum (University of Bamberg) highlight the challenges many companies in the manufacturing industry face when they want to use these technologies.
Poor data quality, lack of expertise, or rigid regulations – the barriers are manifold.
Sixty-one experts from the manufacturing industry were surveyed for the study. The analysis shows that the barriers identified are diverse and relate to technical, organizational, product, process, and environmental factors. These include structural obstacles within companies, poor data quality, insufficient digital skills, uncertainties in interactions with partners or customers, and regulatory requirements.
Combining digital and sustainable transformation as a prerequisite for success
According to the researchers, the transition to a digitally supported circular economy can only succeed if digital and sustainable transformation are considered together. In practice, however, the two developments are often treated separately, which makes implementation difficult and leaves potential untapped. The study also makes it clear that changes in technology, organization, products, and value creation processes must take place simultaneously in order to achieve effective progress.
The study provides companies and policymakers with important starting points for how to remove key obstacles and specifically support the introduction of digital solutions for realizing a circular economy.
About the publication
Lydia Bühler, Tassilo Schuster, Lara Schmidt, Alexander Pflaum (2025): Barriers to the Adoption of Digital Technologies for a Circular Economy: Insights from the Manufacturing Industry. Journal of Circular Economy, 3(3), 358–384. DOI: https://doi.org/10.55845/YXFI4033
Contact
Prof. Dr. Tassilo Schuster
