Industry 4.0 (I4.0) and Circular Economy (CE) are undoubtedly two of the most debated topics of the last decades. Progressively, they gained the interest of policymakers, practitioners and scholars all over the world. Even if they have been usually described as two independent research fields, there are some examples presenting overlaps between these topics, represented by hybrid categories like Circular I4.0 and Digital CE. Starting from these two perspectives, an innovative framework both highlighting the links between I4.0 and CE and unveiling future research fields has been developed. Basing on one of the two perspectives, results show as it is possible to enhance a set of different relations. Depending on a dedicated area of either CE or I4.0 it is possible to see the prevalence of some I4.0 technology than others. However, the influence of I4.0 technologies on CE is always verified.

The increasing awareness of customers toward climate change effects, the high demand instability affecting several industrial sectors, and the fast automation and digitalization of production systems are forcing companies to re-think their business strategies and models in view of both the Circular Economy (CE) and Industry 4.0 (I4.0) paradigms. Some studies have already assessed the relations between CE and I4.0, their benefits, and barriers. However, a practical demonstration of their potential impact in real contexts is still lacking. The aim of this paper is to present a laboratory application case showing how I4.0-based technologies can support CE practices by virtually testing a waste from electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) disassembly plant configuration through a set of dedicated simulation tools. Our results highlight that service-oriented, event-driven processing and information models can support the integration of smart and digital solutions in current CE practices at the factory level.