Unveiling barriers to the integration of blockchain-based circular economy and Industry 5.0 in manufacturing industries: A strategic prioritization approach

Although Industry 4.0 plays the role of a catalyst in the transition from a linear economy to a circular economy (CE), some sustainability goals are neglected by prioritizing machines over humans. Industry 5.0 insists on combining technology with human values to achieve sustainable development goals. Therefore, the integration of CE and Industry 5.0 leads to sustainable synergy in various industries, especially in manufacturing industries. However, their integration is always associated with challenges and barriers. This study identifies a set of these barriers in the electric vehicle battery production industry from the financial, technical, supply chain, cultural, and regulatory and processes perspectives through a deep literature review. The fuzzy weighted influence non-linear gauge system method is used to analyze the relationship between identified barriers and their prioritization. Finally, we leverage the knowledge of four experts from an electric vehicle battery manufacturing company in Southeast Asia to validate the proposed approach and to rank the barriers. The results demonstrate that immature technology providers are the biggest obstacle in the integration of blockchain-based CE and Industry 5.0 in the electric vehicle battery manufacturing industry.