Applying AHP to Identify and Prioritize Barriers Impacting Industry 4.0 Technologies on the Nexus of Circular Economy and Sustainable Performance

Industrial development has created significant prospects for economic growth and development; however, it has also caused environmental degradation. Circular Economy (CE) practices, when combined with Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies, provide significant potential to maximize resource utilization and minimize waste, thereby enhancing Sustainable Performance (SP). While previous studies have explored the benefit of this integration, limited attention has been given to identifying and prioritizing the barriers that hinder its implementation. This study addresses this gap by categorizing the barriers into six major categories: economic and financial, environmental, cultural and social, technological, organizational and competency, institutional and legitimacy, and their respective sub-barriers based on the literature review and expert opinions. To prioritize these barriers and understand their impact, we employed the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). The results indicate that the economic and financial barrier, particularly high capital investment (B1), is the most significant barrier impacting the role of I4.0 technologies on the Nexus of CE and SP, with a weight of o.262. By offering a systematic framework to address and rank these barriers, this research provides valuable insights for managers and policymakers, enabling the effective adoption of I4.0 technologies and fostering sustainable industrial transformation.