Blockchain technology in circular economy: Unpacking the potential issues and critical echoes through data triangulation and natural language processing

Abstract

AbstractThis study aims to identify the current status, potential issues and critical echoes in the integration of blockchain within circular economy (CE) practices. This study utilizes multiple data sources and synthesizes 91 published articles, and over 11,182 social media documents. Word‐embedding‐based clustering technique is employed to derive topics and themes on the use of blockchain in CE. The result of the study demonstrates that industries seek to implement blockchain for CE practices to automate processes for higher efficiency. However, issues revolving around blockchain governance and ethics, the impact of global trade facilitation, the skills required to implement blockchain, and sustainable reverse logistics within CE practices are major concerns. Additionally, acheiving a good return on investment while using blockchain for CE practices is another factor of concern for decision‐makers. This is the first study of its kind to discover topics, themes, potential issues, and critical echoes of integrating blockchain in CE through data triangulation. The results of this study are relevant to managers and policymakers, providing insights into leveraging up‐to‐date developments to address challenges in integrating blockchain within CE practices.