Impact of Industry 4.0 on Environmental Sustainability

Judit Oláh,Hossam Haddad,Nicodemus Kitukutha,József Popp,Muhammad Asif Khan,Nemer Aburumman

doi:10.3390/su12114674

Abstract

Industry 4.0 is a concept that originated from the German industry, and whose essence is the use of technology for efficient production. In business today, the emergence of Industry 4.0 for production, and its related technologies, such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and cyber-physical systems, amongst others, have, however, a negative impact on environmental sustainability as a result of air pollution, the poor discharge of waste, and the intensive use of raw materials, information, and energy. The method used in this study is an analysis of a literature review of manuscripts discussing topics related to Industry 4.0 and environmental sustainability published between 2000 and 2020. There is currently a gap existing between the actual and the desired situation, in that production occurs in a weak sustainability model, and, therefore, this research debates the effects on environmental sustainability and the challenges facing Industry 4.0. Four scenarios are discussed: a deployment scenario, an operation scenario, integration and compliance with sustainable development goals, and a long-run scenario. The results indicate that there is a negative relationship related to the flow of the production process from the inputs to the final product, including raw materials, energy requirements, information, and waste disposal, and their impacts on the environment. However, the integration of Industry 4.0 and the sustainable development goals enhance environmental sustainability to create ecological support that guarantees high environmental performance with a more positive impact than before. This paper will help stakeholders and companies to provide solutions to the existing environmental challenges that can be mediated through adopting new technologies. The novelty of this study is its depiction of Industry 4.0 and its technologies integrated with sustainable development goals to create a sustainable Industry 4.0 combining environmental protection and sustainability.

Highlights

Industrialization is a vital process in production
We have presented a wide discussion of Industry 4.0 and its technologies that enhance smart production, while in the literature review we have used 116 published articles to depict the key areas analyzed by other researchers and disclose the gap that necessitates our study
We identified that the digitization of industrial production will positively influence environmental sustainability, as such factors of resources and consumption will be efficiently utilized, as was found in the results of German and Chinese companies in the survey undertaken by Beier et al [53] of green manufacturing technology as one of the benefits of Industry 4.0, among many others

Summary

Introduction

Industrialization is a vital process in production. Many organizations that have not adopted information technology (IT) are struggling to survive. Regardless of their sectors and activities, entities have the same view concerning the future and do not want to be taken by surprise. Every sector is adopting Industry 4.0 due to the capabilities of the quality achieved in product customization. With Industry 4.0 there is still a high consumption of resources, raw materials, information, and energy, which is environmentally unsustainable despite numerous advantages of Industry 4.0 and this has made society and the public sector more aware and concerned about the risks and environmental challenges [1]. This paper seeks to improve the conditions of this sector and to help it become not just economically better but environmentally and socially sustainable

Methods

Results

Conclusion