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Digitalisation for Water Sustainability: Barriers to Implementing Circular Economy in Smart Water Management

Author

Listed:
  • Qinglan Liu

    (College of Engineering, Mathematics and Physical Sciences, University of Exeter, Exeter EX4 4QF, UK)

  • Longjian Yang

    (Ecological Environment Promotion Centre, Ecology and Environment Bureau, Wenzhou 325000, China)

  • Miying Yang

    (Group of Sustainability, School of Management, Cranfield University, Cranfield MK43 0AL, UK)

Abstract

“Clean water and sanitation” is listed as one of the 17 United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals and implementing circular economy principles in the water sector has been widely regarded as an important approach in achieving this goal. In the era of Industry 4.0, research and practice in the digitalisation of the water sector to create a smart water system have attracted increasing attention. Despite the growing interest, limited research has been devoted to how digital technologies might enhance circularity. In practice, smart water systems often fail to promote circularity in such aspects as water reuse and resources recovery. This paper aims to identify the main barriers to implementing circularity in the smart water management system in Zhejiang, China. The research adopts a mixed research method that includes a literature review to identify the potential barriers from the existing studies, a case study to determine the most critical barriers in practice, and a fuzzy Delphi method to reach a consensus on the crucial barriers. The research identified 22 main barriers to implementing circular economy in smart water management. The barriers are divided into three categories: infrastructure and economic, technology, and institution and governance. The results show that the barriers related to recycling technologies, digital technology know-how, and the lack of CE awareness raise the most concern. Our findings also indicate that experts are interested in the decentralized wastewater treatment system. This research provides significant insights that practitioners, researchers, and policymakers can use in developing and implementing digital-based CE strategies to reduce water scarcity and pollution.

Suggested Citation

  • Qinglan Liu & Longjian Yang & Miying Yang, 2021. "Digitalisation for Water Sustainability: Barriers to Implementing Circular Economy in Smart Water Management," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(21), pages 1-28, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:13:y:2021:i:21:p:11868-:d:665839
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Aurelija Burinskienė & Milena Seržantė, 2022. "Digitalisation as the Indicator of the Evidence of Sustainability in the European Union," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(14), pages 1-20, July.
    3. Miguel Soares & Arminda do Paço & Alexandra Braga & Amílcar Arantes, 2025. "Modelling the Barriers to Reverse Logistics for Sustainable Supply Chains: A Combined ISM and MICMAC Analysis Approach," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(21), pages 1-20, October.
    4. Arezoo Ghazanfari, 2023. "An Analysis of Circular Economy Literature at the Macro Level, with a Particular Focus on Energy Markets," Energies, MDPI, vol. 16(4), pages 1-24, February.
    5. Piubello Orsini, Luca & Leardini, Chiara & Danesi, Letizia & Guerrini, Andrea & Frison, Nicola, 2023. "Circular economy in the water and wastewater sector: Tariff impact and financial performance of SMARTechs," Utilities Policy, Elsevier, vol. 83(C).
    6. 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.
    7. Fatima Zahra Kherazi & Dongying Sun & Jan Muhammad Sohu & Ikramuddin Junejo & Hafiz Muhammad Naveed & Asadullah Khan & Sonia Najam Shaikh, 2024. "The role of environmental knowledge, policies and regulations toward water resource management: A mediated‐moderation of attitudes, perception, and sustainable consumption patterns," Sustainable Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 32(5), pages 5719-5741, October.
    8. Radosław Drozd & Radosław Wolniak & Jan Piwnik, 2023. "Systemic analysis of a manufacturing process based on a small scale bakery," Quality & Quantity: International Journal of Methodology, Springer, vol. 57(2), pages 1421-1437, April.
    9. César Sánchez-Pérez & María-Inmaculada López-Ortiz, 2025. "Integrated Management, Circular Economy and Reclaimed Water: Keys to Restoring the Long-Term Water Balance in La Marina Alta (Alicante, Spain)," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(12), pages 1-25, June.
    10. Yazeed Alsuhaibany, 2025. "Digital Innovation and Circular Economy: A Nexus for Sustainable Oil and Gas Sector Transformation in Saudi Arabia," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 17(3), pages 1-18, February.
    11. Truant, Elisa & Giordino, Daniele & Borlatto, Edoardo & Bhatia, Meena, 2024. "Drivers and barriers of smart technologies for circular economy: Leveraging smart circular economy implementation to nurture companies' performance," Technological Forecasting and Social Change, Elsevier, vol. 198(C).

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