Implementation of the circular supply chain management in the pharmaceutical industry

The ever-increasing levels of pollution and waste creation have subjected industries around the world to incorporate the concept of circular economy (CE) in their supply chains. The amalgamation of the CE approach along with supply chain management is called circular supply chain management (CSCM). Among other industries, the pharmaceutical industry is also involved in damaging the ecosystem. Hence, an effective framework for the adoption of CSCM in a particular industry is very essential. Therefore, this paper aims to devise a model that will help the pharmaceutical industries to adopt CSCM in their organizations. For this purpose, the study in the first phase identifies ten barriers that are working as an impediment in the adoption of the CSCM approach. To counter those barriers, the study in the second phase identifies a set of twelve enablers. To analyse the barriers and enablers, the study uses a new hybrid methodology. For allocating weights and prioritizing the barriers, the fuzzy multi-criteria decision-making (MCDM) technique, i.e. fuzzy full consistency method (F-FUCOM) is used, whereas the total quality management tool, i.e. fuzzy quality function deployment (FQFD) is used to rank the enablers. The results from F-FUCOM suggest lack of financial resources and funding, market challenges, and lack of coordination and collaboration among the entire supply chain network to be the top-most barriers, respectively, whereas the results achieved from the FQFD suggest industrial symbiosis, Reverse Logistic (RL) infrastructure, and block chain technology to be the top-ranked enablers, respectively. The provision of a facilitating framework for the adoption of CSCM in the pharmaceutical industry and the newly developed hybrid methodology are both novelties of this study.

Automated summary

The concept of circular economy (CE) has been incorporated into supply chains globally due to increasing pollution and waste creation. The integration of CE and supply chain management is called circular supply chain management (CSCM). The pharmaceutical industry, like other industries, is also contributing to the damage to the ecosystem. Therefore, this study aims to develop a model to support the adoption of CSCM in the pharmaceutical industry. The study identifies ten barriers and twelve enablers through a new hybrid methodology. Lack of financial resources and funding, market challenges, and lack of coordination and collaboration within the supply chain network are the top barriers, while industrial symbiosis, Reverse Logistic (RL) infrastructure, and blockchain technology are the top-ranked enablers. The provision of a framework for CSCM adoption in the pharmaceutical industry and the new hybrid methodology are the novelties of this study.