A economia circular na era da 4ª revolução industrial – uso da tecnologia rumo à transição

Abstract

Global economy is, essentially, linear, but characterized by discontinuous efforts for a “Circular Economy”. The term “Circular Economy” originated in the 1970s, nevertheless its conceptualization developed until reach a convergence, according to Ellen MacArthur in 2010. In this context, there is the intelligent use of resources incorporated into industrial systems, intentionally reparative and regenerative. The foundations of these systems uncover unique opportunities for environmental, economic and social sustainability, as well as for paradigms of a new industry, “Industry 4.0”. The current manufacturing process has been characterized by the convergence of technologies and extensive technological modernization. These advances have transformed the industry into a “smart factory”, with a high degree of computerization of services and production systems, generating socioeconomic and environmental repercussions when it comes to the challenge of sustainability. Regarding on computerization, the digitization in "Industry 4.0" comes bringing greater control and production systems (and services) with intense automation, autonomy, integration, customization, connectivity, optimization, traceability and intelligence in systems, processes and companies for in real-time operations increasing productivity. As for sustainability, the “Circular Economy” and “Industry 4.0”, although they have different concepts, origins, and fundamentals, they connected to the viability of business models in the face of the socio-environmental, economic and technological requirements of a current globalized ecosystem. As a result of this, the general objective of this paper is to discuss the transition to the "Circular Economy" in the context of implementation of the "Industry 4.0" through their interrelationships. Therefore, a literature analysis was carried out to check for association between socio-environmental and economic factors of the “Circular Economy” and the occurrence of the process of implantation of the “Industry 4.0”. The method used was a systematic review of the literature through a selective search in the CAFe database (federated academic community) from CAPES journals, in the search “Subject”, that includes all the available search bases. From the discussion and conclusion of the themes, it can be said that, although the concepts and analyzes presented are discussed in it, it is necessary move on to the practical implementation of the “Circular Economy” together with “Industry 4.0”, both for the implementation of solutions in socio-environmental harmony and for the socially responsible innovative economic appeal.