Simulating the network structures in the Circular Economy and their impact on resilience

Abstract

Today need for replacing linear-oriented production systems with circular-oriented ones is urgent. Circular Economy production networks promote the continuous reuse of resources and products, recapturing value from by-products and end-of-life resources, and minimising resource leakage out of the systems. However, the design and management of CE production networks, although representing an important issue worldwide, has been scarcely investigated so far. In this study, we argue that CE networks should be resilient to better face with frequent and unpredictable disruptions and that structural characteristics may influence it. Through a simulation model, we investigate how the node degree connectivity, by affecting the formation of local and global loop structures, influences the network resilience to different types of disrupting events. Results of simulation suggest that in absence of disruptions, a random -like network is characterized by the highest number of long and short cycles. Instead, in presence of disruptions, our results suggest that short cycles are more robust when node degree connectivity is uniformly distributed as occurring in random and small-world -like structures. On the contrary, long cycles result more robust when node degree connectivity is power-law shaped as occurring on scale-free -like structures. Theoretical and managerial implications are discussed.