Logistics Processes as Enablers in the Transition to a Circular Economy: A Systematic Literature Review

Abstract

Background: Logistics plays a fundamental role in enabling the Circular Economy (CE), yet existing research has predominantly emphasized reverse logistics (RL) activities, providing limited understanding of how individual logistics processes contribute to different circular strategies. This study examines how logistics processes enable the implementation of R strategies across supply chains. Methods: Following the PRISMA protocol, a qualitative content analysis was conducted on 116 peer-reviewed studies, classifying the literature according to nine logistics processes and ten R-strategies (R0–R9). Results: The findings show that research is heavily concentrated on Reverse and Circular Logistics, particularly return, collection, repair, refurbishment, remanufacturing, recycling, and value recovery activities. Reuse (R3), Recycle (R8), and Reduce (R2) are the most frequently addressed strategies, whereas Refuse (R0) and Rethink (R1) are comparatively less represented in the reviewed corpus. Conclusions: This review proposes a framework linking logistics processes with R-strategies and highlights the need to extend attention beyond end-of-life recovery toward preventive logistics capable of avoiding waste generation and preserving resource value across product life cycles. The findings should be interpreted in light of the restricted search strategy, which may have excluded studies using alternative terminology for circularity and logistics.