Interferences and Frontiers Between Industry 4.0 and Circular Economy

The article examines the relationship between Industry 4.0 (I4.0) and the circular economy (CE), which are modern and widely used in various scientific disciplines as well as in interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary fields. It was taken into account that a modern resource for knowledge and innovation in a scientific area consists precisely in exploring conceptual interoperability, both for the purpose of clarifying aspects of the theory specific to that discipline and also in terms of offering new, less explored perspectives that are valuable for the practice of everyday economic activities. The main methodological component used is bibliometric analysis, starting from the construction of a database of existing approaches to the two key concepts considered, at the level of the Web of Science Core Collection (WoS). This research shows that there is an increase in the theoretical and practical scope of use of the two concepts, a characteristic observed through the consistency and diversification manifested within the considered frame of reference. The main conclusion of the study is that AI-driven servitization, IoT, and big data are facilitators of the implementation of the CE. The contribution lies in consolidating an updated bibliometric overview of this interdisciplinary field and in highlighting new directions.