Assessing the Sustainability Impacts of Industry 4.0 on Maintenance Policies

Maintenance strategies have traditionally been designed with a primary focus on cost reduction and operational efficiency, often overlooking their broader environmental and social impacts. However, in the current context where industries must align with European carbon neutrality 2050 objectives and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), maintenance is recognized as a key lever for enhancing the three pillars of sustainability in industries: economic, social, and environmental. In addition, recent studies have shown that the ongoing digital transformation of industry through Industry 4.0 technologies such as artificial intelligence, Internet of Things, digital twins, and big data analytics, offers new opportunities to improve maintenance strategies. These developments have given rise to the concept of Maintenance 4.0, which opens new perspectives for aligning maintenance practices with broader sustainability objectives.To better understand the impact of these technologies on maintenance sustainability, as well as the existing assessment initiatives in the current state of research, this paper conducts a systematic literature review (SLR). A total of 31 relevant studies were analyzed and classified into literature reviews, conceptual frameworks, and evaluation models. The review reveals that while economic and environmental benefits are increasingly supported by measurable indicators, the social dimension remains underexplored and lacks standardized metrics. In addition, most studies focus on short-term operational gains and do not address life cycle-wide perspective, including manufacturing and end-of-life stages.Based on these findings, this paper (i) clarifies the current maturity of research and its exploratory nature; (ii) identifies major gaps which is the lack of lifecycle-based assessments and operational social indicators; (iii) highlights the weak operationalization of circular economy principles in maintenance 4.0 strategies; and (iv) proposes future research directions to develop holistic, life cycle-oriented, human-centric, and practically validated frameworks. These contributions aim to support the transition toward more sustainable maintenance practices, in alignment with sustainability goals.