The interplay of circular economy with industry 4.0 enabled smart city drivers of healthcare waste disposal

Abstract

Generation of healthcare waste from different patient care activities in hospitals, pathology labs and research centres has been a matter of great concern for environmental and social bodies across the world. This concern comes from its infectious and hazardous nature which brings life taking disease such as human immunodeficiency virus and Hepatitis-B. Moreover, with the outbreak of corona virus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic across the world, healthcare waste has become even more infectious like never before and showing its potential for claiming lives if not disposed properly. Additionally, the COVID-19 has put up another challenge in terms of exponentially increasing demand for personal protective equipments for healthcare workers such as doctors, nurses, ward boys, and sanitation workers. In this paper, seven criteria related to smart healthcare waste disposal system infused by circular economy aspects to recover value from disposables are identified and analysed using a decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL) method. The criteria have been prioritized by its importance and net cause and effect relationship through a causal diagram. Two criteria, (i) digitally connected healthcare centres, waste disposal firms and pollution control board, and (ii) providing a pollution control board’s feedback app to public and other stakeholders, feature as strong reasons for a smart healthcare waste disposal system. Conclusively, this study provides a causal relationship model among the intertwined drivers of industry 4.0 and circular economy for developing a smart healthcare waste disposal system enriched with the benefits of circular economy.

Analyzing Roadblocks of Industry 4.0 Adoption Using Graph Theory and Matrix Approach

“…Method and ELECTRE Chauhan et al [10] Recovering material using the 3R concept of circular economy was discussed. IoT enabled smart healthcare facility; waste disposal organizations and pollution control DEMATEL board were found to have high intensity of causal effect.…”

“…The manufacturing sector contributes to almost 50% of the GDP of the country [27]. This prominent sector has been forced to adopt green and sustainable manufacturing practices to achieve and maintain a competitive advantage [6][7]10]. Exports in the automobile sector have risen recently by approx.…”

Big Data-Enabled Solutions Framework to Overcoming the Barriers to Circular Economy Initiatives in Healthcare Sector

“…Poor infrastructure [5,13,24,46,49,51,53,54,56,57] B30 Lack of recycling options in medical supplies [4] B31 Limited IT infrastructure and technologies in medical informatics [25,26,58] Technologies required for CE principle implementations in healthcare can have beneficial effects on the environment, including maximizing efficiency in usage of energy, providing cost-efficient solutions, and the elimination of the natural resource waste. However, the adoption of these technologies, equipment, and solutions requires high-cost investments.…”

“…In addition, the size and complexity of circularity in healthcare systems are considered as another major barrier that inhibits the improvement of green and circular healthcare systems [22]. Furthermore, the absence of suitable infrastructure is another crucial barrier for safe management of the healthcare waste disposal systems [5,[16][17][18], and also lack of recycling options for medical devices and equipment in terms of their reusability and end-of-life cycle, causing detrimental effects on the environment. On the technical side, limited IT infrastructure and technologies in medical informatics can be determined as a barrier, i.e., lack of or insufficient technologies, poor quality of designs, standards, and codes, and inefficient performance on circular practices [75][76][77][78][79].…”

The Impact of Industry 4.0 on the Future of Green Supply Chain

“…Figure 1 shows some approaches focusing on the impact of Industry 4.0 on green supply chain solutions, including the following aspects: environmental consideration [3], IoT technologies and green supply chain [4], business logistics and circular economy [5], drivers of Industry 4.0 and circular economy [6], diffusion of green products [7], sustainable business models [8], pilots and applications [9,10], lean paradigm in green supply chain [11,12]and supply chain performance [13].…”