International Research Journal of Engineering and Technology (IRJET) e-ISSN: 2395-0056 Volume: 08 Issue: 03 | Mar 2021 www.irjet.net p-ISSN: 2395-0072 © 2021, IRJET | Impact Factor value: 7.529 | ISO 9001:2008 Certified Journal | Page 1453 ANALYZING THE BARRIERS FOR THE SHIFTING TOWARDS CIRCULAR ECONOMY IN MANUFACTURING CONTEXT: A DEMATEL APPROACH Aamir Ul Islam 1 , Naveen Kumar 2 1 PG Scholar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yamuna Institute of Engineering and Technology, Gadholi- 133103, India 2 Assistant Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering, Yamuna Institute of Engineering and Technology, Gadholi-133103, India ----------------------------------------------------------------------***--------------------------------------------------------------------- Abstract: The increased population, scarcity of resources and environmental consciousness put the tremendous stress on the organisations to fulfil the demand in sustainable way. The current linear model is based on the take-make-use-destroy model, which have many limitations in terms of resource utilisation and environmental impact. To overcome such limitation circular economy is proposed. The main aim of circular economy is to create a circular system that maximizes the resource value and enhances the material and product. However, the adoption of the circular economy is challenging and required some essential/motivational factor. This study is identifying the ten major barriers towards the adoption of circular economy. Further, these barriers are categorised into two groups utilising the decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL). The result of this study explored that most influential are ‘government policies for cleaner production’ and ‘urbanisation’ while ‘enhanced material and energy efficiency’ and ‘improving product quality’ is the most influenced barriers. This study can be support the policy makers to develop the strategies in adoption of circular economy. Keywords: Circular Economy; Barriers; DEMATEL; Supply Chain Management. 1. Introduction The population of the world has been predicted to be about 9 billion by 2050 and 10.1 billion by 2100 [1]. This massive population growth putting tremendous stress on the environment and the resource [2]. So, there is the requirement of more extraction of raw materials and consequently more waste. The current economic model is linear in nature [3] and aims at producing products from raw material, sold and dumped as waste after serving the purpose of use [4]. This economic model is called the take-make-use-destroy model [5]. This linear model is not sustainable in long run as this model continuously destroys the limited natural resources [6]. The adoption of the circular economy (CE) can surmount the limitations of the linear model of the economy. A CE as described by the authors of [7] is “an economic system that is based on business models which replace the ‘end-of-life’ concept with reducing, alternatively reusing, recycling and recovering materials in production/distribution and consumption processes, thus operating at the micro level (products, companies, consumers), meso level(eco-industrial parks) and macro level (city, region, nation and beyond), with the aim to accomplish sustainable development, which implies creating environmental quality, economic prosperity and social equity, to the benefit of current and future generations”. The aim of the CE is to limit the extraction of raw materials and production of waste by recovering and reusing as many of the materials possible. The CE has many significant advantages over the traditional economy as it is evident in literature through various studies and researches. [8]. The switching of a linear economy to a CE is a very challenging task and demands motivational factors. These barriers facilitate in the adoption of the CE which makes it necessary for the identification and evaluation of the barriers before the adoption of the CE. With the use of DEMATEL, this study acknowledges the position of each barrier in the CE system along with their degree of effectiveness on the system and on the other barriers. With the help of experts, the results obtained by the DEMATEL provides the major dominant barriers [16]. The focus is put on these influential barriers to make better the overall system. The other benefits of this technique are that the DEMATEL technique is suitable with limited data, [9]. Understanding the barriers and their driving potential will be beneficial in formulating the strategies in order to decrease the effect of barriers. In this paper, the objective of research is to find the barriers of the CE, explore the causal relationships among the barriers.