The digital transformation of manufacturing operations represents an opportunity for sustainable development. Industry 4.0 is implementing innovations that bridge the gap between the physical and digital worlds, enabling intelligent and autonomous systems with great potential when used in conjunction and in conjunction with circular economy practices. Assessing the importance of Industry 4.0 to optimize available resources with practices such as recycling, the development of new circular business models such as remanufacturing, as well as the sustainability of the supply chain, will be the objective of this research. Through exploratory documentary methodology, it was confirmed that industrial development is limited to sustainable development and that Industry 4.0 can be decisive in responding to the challenge of sustainability.
TopIntroduction
The global economy is struggling to balance growth, demand for energy and materials without depleting available resources (Kristoffersen et al. 2020) and Industry 4.0 technologies are considered essential for the design and manufacture of innovative products (Ngan et al. 2019) that enable a respectful relationship between human beings and the environment around them because the question arises: Is there a limit to industrial development?
The global phenomenon known as “The Great Acceleration” (Steffen et al. 2011) has two differentiating characteristics: the speed at which changes occur and their global scale (Verburg, 2016). The global gross domestic product and the world population evolved exponentially during the second half of the twentieth century, but this exponential development came at the cost of increasing, also with an exponential trend, the pressure on the natural system (Suárez Eiroa, 2021).
Industrialization has provided an indisputable level of well-being, but it has profoundly altered the relationship between society and the environment and brought about an unprecedented environmental crisis.
Since 1950, the increase in industrial activity has been continuous, as well as the environmental impact caused on the environment by the incessant use of raw materials and energy, by the emission of pollutants and by the growing and enormous generation of waste. And another question arises, is sustainable development possible?
Faced with these pressures and impacts, the different social actors must generate responses in the form of prevention, mitigation, restoration and adaptation (Balzan et al. 2019) so as not to exceed the limits of resilience of the natural system.
Undoubtedly, the resilience of the natural system must be taken into account to define environmental sustainability requirements (Suárez Eiroa, 2021) and the establishment of limits to human activity is inherent to the concept of sustainable development that guarantees a safe and fair space for humanity.
To achieve this safe and fair space for humanity, sustainable development must address, among other issues, waste management.
Waste generation is a global environmental problem included in the Sustainable Development Goals (UN, 2015). It is global because interconnections on a planetary scale connect the consumption of products and the generation of waste in one part of the planet (more developed countries) with the accumulation of such waste in the other part of the world (developing or underdeveloped countries) and needs to be addressed quickly (Kaza et al. 2018) because, although biological waste needs to adjust to the absorption rates of the natural system, technical waste needs to be minimized (Suárez Eiroa, 2021).
Waste is the last link in any activity, whether domestic, agricultural or industrial. Their generation is inevitable, but proper management and use to convert them back into raw materials has advantages for industries, for society and for the planet. And we ask ourselves, is a “zero waste” culture possible?
The concept of zero waste encompasses not only the management of waste, but also the reduction of its generation. Reducing waste generation can be achieved by seeking to extend the useful life of the products we consume and the devices we use, and achieving this implies greater awareness on the part of consumers, as well as greater cooperation and commitment on the part of producers.