Circular supply chain innovation in China's tire reutilisation: digital technological and social facilitators for enhancing resilience and efficiency

In recent years, China has introduced a circular supply chain (CSC) mode within its tire industry. However, the mode remains underdeveloped, and requires innovation to enhance its resilience and efficiency. The existing studies provide limited guidance, as they examine only one or a few factors influencing supply chain resilience. Moreover, they concentrate on linear supply chains rather than CSCs. This study fills the research gap by identifying, categorizing, and prioritizing digital technological and social facilitators that promote such innovation. First, we apply ecosystem theory and socio-technical systems (STS) theory to develop a participants-stakeholders and technical-social research framework for facilitators' identification. Following this framework, we subsequently identify, categorise, and validate 10 facilitators through a combination of literature review, observations, and interviews with three experts from an integrated tire management company, a large tire company, and a top university. Using the evaluations provided by the three experts, we apply the grey-based Decision-Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory (DEMATEL) method to explore the causal-effect relationships among the facilitators, and reveal four prominent and two elemental facilitators. The findings demonstrate that the four prominent facilitators that should be considered in the short term primarily involve environmental stakeholders, while the two elemental facilitators that should be highlighted in the long term pertain to participants in the CSC ecosystem. Furthermore, the results reveal interlinks between digital technological and social facilitators. For example, a prominent social facilitator ‘Government legislation for extended producer responsibility (EPR) implementation in the tire industry’ is significantly influenced by all the digital technological facilitators. This study provides valuable insights for business leaders and policymakers by offering guidance on how to allocate limited resources, while also extending the literature on CSC and resilience.