Industry 5.0 and the Circular Economy

Industry 5.0 (I5.0) and circular economy (CE) together drive the transformation toward sustainable, inclusive, and resilient industrial systems. Their integration offers a timely and impactful response to address contemporary global challenges, including environmental pollution, resource deficiency, and socioeconomic disparity. I5.0 prioritizes human-centric innovation, ethical artificial intelligence (AI), and collaborative human–machine symbiosis, aligning with CE goals. This chapter emphasizes a paradigm that integrates these twin ideologies to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. It aims to explore the dynamic interplay between I5.0 and CE, showcasing how their synergy fosters sustainable industrial practices, promotes innovation, and develops socioeconomic resilience. Using ATLAS.ti 2025, the study reveals key barriers like high technology costs, regulatory inconsistency, and workforce adaptation challenges, and key enablers like leadership commitment, digital infrastructure, and interdisciplinary collaboration from the literature, policy reviews, and industry cases. The chapter further identifies crucial requirements, including policy consistency, standardized metrics, and stakeholder participation for these initiatives’ successful implementation. It offers strategic guidance for integrating I5.0 technologies with CE principles. The findings are especially important for academics, industry leaders, and policymakers who are directing and supporting circular, sustainable, and human-centered industrial ecosystems. Future research directions are proposed to fill the existing gaps and accelerate development in this evolving I5.0 domain.