Systematic review of circular economy strategy outcomes in the automobile industry

Circular economy (CE) activities are expected to deliver emission and resource benefits to the automobile industry while increasing economic competitiveness and social well-being. However, assessing the impact of these benefits has been challenging due to the variability in methodologies and assumptions used in previous studies. Considering this, we conducted a systematic review of 192 peer-reviewed studies to comprehensively synthesize the impact of five types of CE strategies on the automobile sector, focusing on five environmental and socioeconomic outcomes. Our findings reveal that only a minority of studies investigated social outcomes (16%) and integrated dynamic aspects into the impact assessment (10%). While the impact direction analysis indicates that the five CE strategies generally have positive environmental impacts, we identified trade-offs in economic competitiveness associated with lightweighting through material substitution and human well-being issues related to lifetime extension. Furthermore, we identified factors such as transport, materials, and energy sources that contribute to backfire effects on global warming. Our systematic review emphasizes the importance of developing sophisticated assessment methods and overcoming potential trade-offs and backfire effects when employing CE strategies for carbon neutrality in the automobile industry.