Traceability Models and Traceability Systems to Accelerate the Transition to a Circular Economy: A Systematic Review

Abstract

Research and implementation efforts and investment in the circular economy are rising sharply. With the high stakes associated with achievements in the field, an increasing emphasis on evaluation, transparency and accountability are to be expected. All require high-quality data, methodologies and tools that are able to improve results and to assess and document the implementation processes and outcomes. A challenging key issue in the implementation of a circular economy is ensuring coordination, control and transparency within a network of parties. Traceability models and systems are vital pillars of such an endeavor, but a preliminary search of the available literature revealed a rather unstable and fragmented research field and practice. The objective of this systematic review was to examine those studies discussing traceability models and traceability systems while connecting traceability capacities and outputs to implement the principles of the circular economy. The literature databases were searched on 6 January 2020, with an update for the entire year of 2020. Overall, 49 studies were included. By addressing eight specific research questions, we found that a link between traceability and the circular economy is yet to be established. Sound research and practice documentation are required to establish evidence regarding this connection, including methodologies that are able to support the design and implementation of business- and lifecycle-oriented, value-based traceability models and traceability systems, along with thorough evaluation methods and tools incorporating economic, social and environmental perspectives.

Traceability Information Model for Sustainability of Black Soybean Supply Chain: A Systematic Literature Review

“…The review articles listed in Table 1 are classified based on: content analysis, time spent, traceability, supply chain, food/soy products, and sustainability with six dimensions, namely economic (eco), social (soc), environmental (env), technological (tech), institutional (inst), and infrastructural (infra). This traceability information for supply-chain sustainability can affect the economic, social, environmental, technological, institutional, and infrastructural dimensions [1,10,11,[16][17][18][19][20]. The symbols Y and N, representing Yes and No, respectively, indicate whether a given article falls within the predefined classification.…”

Resource flow characterisation and sustainable value creation analysis for the holistic circularity assessment of wastewater systems

“…resource traceability is a key element of circular business models as it provides an enhanced understanding of circularity by tracking the source and destinations of ows. Tracking resource ows facilitates a transparent assessment, and enables material ow analysis (MFA) for calculating of many critical indicators 29 . In the methodology proposed, this is expanded to overcome one of the main issues with current circularity assessments by combining resource traceability with their ability to harm the natural environment, enabling circular properties to be assigned using a classi cation framework.…”

Nachverfolgbarkeit als zentrales Element zirkulärer Wertschöpfung/Traceability as a key element of circular value creation – Identification of objects for circular supply chains

“…Dabei ist vom Anwendungsfall abhängig, ob Objekte auf Ebene der einzelnen Instanzen, der Charge oder der Objekt-Klasse identifiziert werden müssen [2]. In Anlehnung an McFarlane und Sheffi gibt es vier zentrale Komponenten von automatischen Identifikationssystemen in Lieferketten [3] Die besondere Relevanz durchgängiger Traceability-Systeme für kreislaufwirtschaftliche Wertschöpfungssysteme [5] bedingt zusätzliche Herausforderungen an Identifikationssysteme. In kreislaufwirtschaftlichen Wertschöpfungssystemen werden keine linearen, sondern multi-direktionale Waren-, Infomations-und Geldflüsse organisiert.…”