Investigating the circular economy’s rebound effect in manufacturing: a systematic literature review

Circular economy (CE) is a model of production and consumption for closing material loops, based on the implementation of different circular strategies (e.g., refuse, reduce, reuse and recycle). This paradigm relies on the maximization of the value of resources in use by minimizing negative environmental impacts as well as social and economic ones. As matter of fact, CE is widespread in manufacturing firms to reduce both the consumption of virgin materials and energy and the production of waste along the whole value chain to achieve sustainability. Nevertheless, the implementation of the CE paradigm is hampered by multiple and heterogeneous barriers and sometimes leads to the socalled rebound effect (defined in the energy research domain as resources overuse due to an improved efficiency of a system). To this concern, this paper presents a systematic literature review to explore how in the manufacturing industry the research context of CE is related to the rebound effect. First, it provides the domains, boundaries and open issues to better understand the link between the two topics. Second, it contributes to show the principals enablers and potential business models to manage the CE’s rebound effect. Lastly, it offers a schematic organization of the large number of studies extant in the research domain explored, to provide guidelines to policymakers, managers and consumers in coping with the rebound effect of CE, and to define a baseline for future research.