IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v13y2021i17p9668-d623767.html

A Review of Circular Economy Research for Electric Motors and the Role of Industry 4.0 Technologies

Author

Listed:
  • Divya Tiwari

    (Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 3JD, UK)

  • Jill Miscandlon

    (National Manufacturing Institute Scotland, University of Strathclyde, Inchinnan PA4 9LJ, UK)

  • Ashutosh Tiwari

    (Department of Automatic Control and Systems Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 3JD, UK)

  • Geraint W. Jewell

    (Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1 3JD, UK)

Abstract

The market for electric motors is experiencing a step-growth due to their adoption across a range of industrial sectors. This increased demand also highlights the importance of end-of-life management of electric motors and a requirement for appropriate strategies for the high value materials embedded in them. This paper aims to offer a holistic view on the circular economy research for electric motors and the role of Industry 4.0 technologies by presenting the state-of-the-art available in literature and comparing it with the industrial perspective. The literature review revealed the absence of a methodology for selecting the best end-of-life scenario for industrial electric motors. Recycling, which is an end-of-product-life strategy, was found to be the key focus area of research. Reuse, which is a better strategy in terms of waste hierarchy, was the least researched area due to lack of information about the condition and availability of returned products. In order to capture the current landscape within the UK for the repair, remanufacture and recycling of electrical machines, a structured survey of UK based companies was conducted. The survey revealed that nearly half of the companies do not undertake any repair strategies for electrical machine components; however, there was an aspiration from the respondents to migrate their companies towards more sustainable activities. The industry survey and the review of existing literature led to the identification of research trends, challenges and recommendations for future research.

Suggested Citation

  • Divya Tiwari & Jill Miscandlon & Ashutosh Tiwari & Geraint W. Jewell, 2021. "A Review of Circular Economy Research for Electric Motors and the Role of Industry 4.0 Technologies," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(17), pages 1-19, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:17:p:9668-:d:623767
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/17/9668/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/13/17/9668/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Bonfante, Mariele Canal & Raspini, Jéssica Prats & Fernandes, Ivan Belo & Fernandes, Suélen & Campos, Lucila M.S. & Alarcon, Orestes Estevam, 2021. "Achieving Sustainable Development Goals in rare earth magnets production: A review on state of the art and SWOT analysis," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 137(C).
    2. Fiona Charnley & Divya Tiwari & Windo Hutabarat & Mariale Moreno & Okechukwu Okorie & Ashutosh Tiwari, 2019. "Simulation to Enable a Data-Driven Circular Economy," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(12), pages 1-16, June.
    3. Ohno, Hajime & Matsubae, Kazuyo & Nakajima, Kenichi & Kondo, Yasushi & Nakamura, Shinichiro & Nagasaka, Tetsuya, 2015. "Toward the efficient recycling of alloying elements from end of life vehicle steel scrap," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 11-20.
    4. Diaz Lopez, Fernando J. & Bastein, Ton & Tukker, Arnold, 2019. "Business Model Innovation for Resource-efficiency, Circularity and Cleaner Production: What 143 Cases Tell Us," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 155(C), pages 20-35.
    5. Michael Redlinger & Roderick Eggert & Michael Woodhouse, 2014. "Evaluating the Availability of Gallium, Indium, and Tellurium from Recycled Photovoltaic Modules," Working Papers 2014-09, Colorado School of Mines, Division of Economics and Business.
    6. T. E. Graedel & Julian Allwood & Jean‐Pierre Birat & Matthias Buchert & Christian Hagelüken & Barbara K. Reck & Scott F. Sibley & Guido Sonnemann, 2011. "What Do We Know About Metal Recycling Rates?," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 15(3), pages 355-366, June.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Qinglan Liu & Adriana Hofmann Trevisan & Miying Yang & Janaina Mascarenhas, 2022. "A framework of digital technologies for the circular economy: Digital functions and mechanisms," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 31(5), pages 2171-2192, July.
    2. Moacir Godinho Filho & Luiza Monteiro & Renata de Oliveira Mota & Jessica dos Santos Leite Gonella & Lucila Maria de Souza Campos, 2022. "The Relationship between Circular Economy, Industry 4.0 and Supply Chain Performance: A Combined ISM/Fuzzy MICMAC Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-21, February.
    3. Lukas Alexander Benz, 2022. "Critical Success Factors for Circular Business Model Innovation from the Perspective of the Sustainable Development Goals," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(10), pages 1-18, May.
    4. Tiago Hennemann Hilario da Silva & Simone Sehnem, 2025. "The utilization of Industry 4.0 technologies to enhance the circular economy through the engagement of stakeholders in Brazilian food technology companies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 34(1), pages 129-161, January.
    5. Alessandra Neri & Marta Negri & Enrico Cagno & Simone Franzò & Vikas Kumar & Tommaso Lampertico & Carlo Andrea Bassani, 2023. "The role of digital technologies in supporting the implementation of circular economy practices by industrial small and medium enterprises," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 32(7), pages 4693-4718, November.
    6. Yasanur Kayikci & Nazlican Gozacan‐Chase & Abderahman Rejeb, 2024. "Blockchain entrepreneurship roles for circular supply chain transition," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(2), pages 197-222, February.
    7. Popa, Dan-Cristian & Szabó, Loránd, 2025. "Overcoming Catch-22 for rare earth metals in green transition: Solutions in electrical machine manufacturing," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 207(C).
    8. Mihály Katona & Tamás Orosz, 2025. "Cogging Torque Reduction of a Flux-Intensifying Permanent Magnet-Assisted Synchronous Reluctance Machine with Surface-Inset Magnet Displacement," Energies, MDPI, vol. 18(20), pages 1-26, October.
    9. Gobbi, Massimiliano & Sattar, Aqeab & Palazzetti, Roberto & Mastinu, Gianpiero, 2024. "Traction motors for electric vehicles: Maximization of mechanical efficiency – A review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 357(C).
    10. Zain Anwar Ali & Mahreen Zain & M. Salman Pathan & Peter Mooney, 2024. "Contributions of artificial intelligence for circular economy transition leading toward sustainability: an explorative study in agriculture and food industries of Pakistan," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 26(8), pages 19131-19175, August.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Berzi, Lorenzo & Delogu, Massimo & Pierini, Marco & Romoli, Filippo, 2016. "Evaluation of the end-of-life performance of a hybrid scooter with the application of recyclability and recoverability assessment methods," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 108(C), pages 140-155.
    2. Pauliuk, Stefan & Kondo, Yasushi & Nakamura, Shinichiro & Nakajima, Kenichi, 2017. "Regional distribution and losses of end-of-life steel throughout multiple product life cycles—Insights from the global multiregional MaTrace model," Resources, Conservation & Recycling, Elsevier, vol. 116(C), pages 84-93.
    3. Adriano Cordisco & Riccardo Melloni & Lucia Botti, 2022. "Sustainable Circular Economy for the Integration of Disadvantaged People: A Preliminary Study on the Reuse of Lithium-Ion Batteries," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(13), pages 1-15, July.
    4. Guo, Tianjiao & Geng, Yong & Song, Xiaoqian & Rui, Xue & Ge, Zewen, 2023. "Tracing magnesium flows in China: A dynamic material flow analysis," Resources Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    5. Chen, Wei-Qiang & Graedel, T.E., 2012. "Dynamic analysis of aluminum stocks and flows in the United States: 1900–2009," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 92-102.
    6. Nadia Preghenella & Cinzia Battistella, 2021. "Exploring business models for sustainability: A bibliographic investigation of the literature and future research directions," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 30(5), pages 2505-2522, July.
    7. Marit Moe Bjørnbet & Sigurd Sagen Vildåsen, 2021. "Life Cycle Assessment to Ensure Sustainability of Circular Business Models in Manufacturing," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-13, October.
    8. Gianmarco Bressanelli & Federico Adrodegari & Daniela C. A. Pigosso & Vinit Parida, 2022. "Towards the Smart Circular Economy Paradigm: A Definition, Conceptualization, and Research Agenda," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(9), pages 1-20, April.
    9. Özden Tozanlı & Elif Kongar & Surendra M. Gupta, 2020. "Evaluation of Waste Electronic Product Trade-in Strategies in Predictive Twin Disassembly Systems in the Era of Blockchain," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(13), pages 1-33, July.
    10. Roberto Hernández-Chea & Akriti Jain & Nancy M. P. Bocken & Anjula Gurtoo, 2021. "The Business Model in Sustainability Transitions: A Conceptualization," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(11), pages 1-25, May.
    11. Tomer Fishman & Rupert J. Myers & Orlando Rios & T.E. Graedel, 2018. "Implications of Emerging Vehicle Technologies on Rare Earth Supply and Demand in the United States," Resources, MDPI, vol. 7(1), pages 1-15, January.
    12. Qingshi Tu & Edgar G. Hertwich, 2022. "A mechanistic model to link technical specifications of vehicle end‐of‐life treatment with the potential of closed‐loop recycling of post‐consumer scrap alloys," Journal of Industrial Ecology, Yale University, vol. 26(3), pages 704-717, June.
    13. Fabio De Felice & Antonella Petrillo, 2021. "Green Transition: The Frontier of the Digicircular Economy Evidenced from a Systematic Literature Review," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-26, October.
    14. Minxi Wang & Ping Liu & Zhaoliang Gu & Hong Cheng & Xin Li, 2019. "A Scientometric Review of Resource Recycling Industry," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 16(23), pages 1-18, November.
    15. Pérez-Sánchez, Laura À. & Velasco-Fernández, Raúl & Giampietro, Mario, 2022. "Factors and actions for the sustainability of the residential sector. The nexus of energy, materials, space, and time use," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 161(C).
    16. Alexandre Tisserant & Stefan Pauliuk, 2016. "Matching global cobalt demand under different scenarios for co-production and mining attractiveness," Journal of Economic Structures, Springer;Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS), vol. 5(1), pages 1-19, December.
    17. Elshkaki, Ayman & Graedel, T.E., 2015. "Solar cell metals and their hosts: A tale of oversupply and undersupply," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 158(C), pages 167-177.
    18. Alexandre Tisserant & Stefan Pauliuk, 2016. "Matching global cobalt demand under different scenarios for co-production and mining attractiveness," Journal of Economic Structures, Springer;Pan-Pacific Association of Input-Output Studies (PAPAIOS), vol. 5(1), pages 1-19, December.
    19. Marie Briguglio & Leandro J. Llorente-González & Christopher Meilak & Ángeles Pereira & Jonathan Spiteri & Xavier Vence, 2021. "Born or Grown: Enablers and Barriers to Circular Business in Europe," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-20, December.
    20. Olga Rataj & René Kemp & Katarzyna Mordaszewska, 2024. "Mainstreaming innovative circular economy solutions—A comparative study between entrepreneurs in developed versus emerging markets and developing economies," Business Strategy and the Environment, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(8), pages 8946-8964, December.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:17:p:9668-:d:623767. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.