In the quest for sustainable and circular practices within supply chains, both downstream and upstream strategies play pivotal roles. This structured literature review aims to compare the indicators of sustainability and circularity between downstream and upstream supply chain strategies, evaluating their impact through practical cases and empirical studies. The downstream strategies, which focus on waste management, customer engagement, and reverse network planning, are explored alongside upstream strategies such as sourcing environmentally friendly raw materials and integrating design for circularity principles. This paper assesses the efficacy of these strategies through a comprehensive review of scholarly articles, reports, and case studies in achieving sustainability and circularity goals. The literature review reveals that downstream strategies often face challenges related to felxibility and operational efficiency while crucial for managing end-of-life products and optimizing resource utilization. Conversely, upstream strategies, emphasizing eco-friendly sourcing and circular design principles which demonstrate significant potential for long term sustainability and circularity. Practical cases illustrate how upstream interventions can lead to reduced environmental impact, enhanced resource efficiency, and increased product longevity across various industries. Furthermore, the review highlights the interconnectedness of downstream and upstream strategies within the broader supply chain ecosystem. Synergistic approaches that integrate both strategies demonstrate the highest potential for driving transformative change towards sustainable and circular supply chains. Ultimately, this review underscores the importance of integrated approaches that leverage both downstream and upstream strategies to achieve lasting environmental and economic benefits to provides insights for policymakers and researchers seeking to prioritize interventions that maximize sustainability and circularity across the supply chain.

Background: Despite ongoing efforts to improve resource recovery, waste continues to end up in landfills. Companies are increasingly pressured to address sustainability, particularly under the extended producer responsibility (EPR) frameworks. Objectives: This article examines how Industry 4.0 technologies can enhance the sustainability of waste collection within reverse logistics systems. By exploring the link among waste management, reverse logistics and Industry 4.0, the study identifies opportunities to improve resource use, reduce environmental impact and boost operational efficiency. Method: A systematic literature review was conducted using ScienceDirect and Web of Science database, two major databases, Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA)-guided mapping study clearly, illustrated inclusion and exclusion steps. Keywords were structured using the PEO (Population, Exposure, Outcome) approach, resulting in 47 articles analysed and categorised into five themes. Results: The review identifies five key thematic areas in the integration of Industry 4.0 technologies with reverse logistics: collection system design and optimisation, application of core Industry 4.0; stakeholder engagement and consumer participation, policy frameworks and governance and barriers to efficient collection. While Industry 4.0 tools improve routing, traceability and efficiency, their impact increases when aligned with supportive policies and user engagement. Decentralised models, EPR schemes and incentive-driven systems significantly enhance return rates and environmental outcomes. Conclusion: The synergy between technological innovation, infrastructure planning and behavioural incentives is vital for effective reverse logistics. The review highlights limited empirical validation and calls for research on aligning technology adoption with local policy and informal sector realities. Contribution: This review introduces a conceptual framework integrating five interdependent dimensions, offering a unified framework for sector-wide sustainable reverse logistics.

In the quest for sustainable and circular practices within supply chains, both downstream and upstream strategies play pivotal roles. This structured literature review aims to compare the indicators of sustainability and circularity between downstream and upstream supply chain strategies, evaluating their impact through practical cases and empirical studies. The downstream strategies, which focus on waste management, customer engagement, and reverse network planning, are explored alongside upstream strategies such as sourcing environmentally friendly raw materials and integrating design for circularity principles. This paper assesses the efficacy of these strategies through a comprehensive review of scholarly articles, reports, and case studies in achieving sustainability and circularity goals. The literature review reveals that downstream strategies often face challenges related to felxibility and operational efficiency while crucial for managing end-of-life products and optimizing resource utilization. Conversely, upstream strategies, emphasizing eco-friendly sourcing and circular design principles which demonstrate significant potential for long term sustainability and circularity. Practical cases illustrate how upstream interventions can lead to reduced environmental impact, enhanced resource efficiency, and increased product longevity across various industries. Furthermore, the review highlights the interconnectedness of downstream and upstream strategies within the broader supply chain ecosystem. Synergistic approaches that integrate both strategies demonstrate the highest potential for driving transformative change towards sustainable and circular supply chains. Ultimately, this review underscores the importance of integrated approaches that leverage both downstream and upstream strategies to achieve lasting environmental and economic benefits to provides insights for policymakers and researchers seeking to prioritize interventions that maximize sustainability and circularity across the supply chain.

In recent years, the world has experienced significant changes which increased the uncertainty and disruptions of the supply chain operations, such as COVID-19 epidemic, rapid technological changes and geopolitical conflicts. In this context, the importance of the Enterprise Planning System (ERP) has become more evident. However, the ERP implementation does not only depend on technological capacities but also heavily relies on organizational culture. This research aims to investigate the companies’ willingness to implement ERP in their procurement operations or not, based on the organizational cultural differences and the impact of these cultural differences on the procurement decisions using the ERP. This study contributes to a comprehensive overview of the organizational cultural management differences between Vietnam and Hungary. Moreover, this study will explore the impact of ERP on streamlining procurement functions. To obtain these targets, a structured literature review method is employed to compare the current situation between two companies: Givaudan in Hungary and Top Solvent Vietnam, as well as the impact of ERP on procurement operations. The findings of this research are adding valuable insights for business owners, managers and decision makers to consider the ERP implementation in different organizational cultures.