Circular Supply Chains for Plastic Waste: Digital Innovation and Sustainable Transitions

The transition toward a Circular Economy represents a fundamental shift from linear “take-make–dispose” models to regenerative systems that prioritise resource efficiency and waste minimisation. In plastic systems, this transition remains constrained by low recycling rates, inadequate recovery infrastructure, and weak integration across production, consumption, and end-of-life stages. Within this context, Supply Chain Management provides a critical analytical and operational framework for enabling circularity through the redesign of material flows, coordination of multi-actor networks, and integration of sustainability into decision-making processes. Concurrently, emerging digital technologies are improving visibility, traceability, and coordination across supply chains, thereby enhancing the efficiency of reverse logistics and material recovery systems in complex plastic value networks.Plastic waste has become a critical sustainability challenge, reflecting the structural limitations of linear production and consumption systems that insufficiently account for material recovery and reintegration. Despite growing regulatory pressure and corporate sustainability commitments, global plastic leakage continues to increase due to fragmented supply chains, weak reverse logistics systems, and the limited implementation of circular economy principles at scale. This Research Topic aims to examine how plastic value chains can be systematically transformed through circular supply chain systems that enable closed-loop material flows, improve resource efficiency, and reduce environmental externalities. It seeks to advance both theoretical and empirical understanding of how the integration of circular economy principles with digital technologies and governance mechanisms can enable systemic rather than incremental change. The overarching objective is to generate interdisciplinary insights into the redesign of plastic supply chain systems that support scalable, resilient, and sustainable material circularity.This Research Topic focuses on the systemic redesign of plastic value chains through circular supply chain innovation, digital transformation, and sustainability-oriented governance. It seeks contributions that advance both the conceptual understanding and practical implementation of circular economy systems in plastic management. The collection welcomes research on, but is not limited to the following areas:• Circular supply chain design and optimization• Reverse logistics systems for plastics• Digital technologies for circularity• Sustainable packaging and eco-design• Policy and governance frameworks• Circular business models and industrial systems• Social and equity dimensions of circular transitionsThis Research Topic welcomes empirical studies, theoretical contributions, systematic reviews, and case-based analyses that provide rigorous insights into the transformation of plastic supply chains into circular and sustainable systems. Topic editors: James Kanyepe, Nagendra Tanikella, Shakerod Munuhwa Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/80967/circular-supply-chains-for-plastic-waste-digital-innovation-and-sustainable-transitions