Digitally-Enabled Carbon Reduction in Plastics Supply Chain Based on Literature Review Method

Changping Zhao, Bill Wang (), Maliyamu Saidula, Yu Gong and Mohammed Alharithi
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Changping Zhao: Business School, Shanghai Normal University Tianhua College, Shanghai 201815, China
Bill Wang: Institute of Innovation & Supply Chain Development, College of Business and Public Management, Wenzhou Kean University, Wenzhou 325060, China
Maliyamu Saidula: College of Economic and Management, Shihezi University, Shihezi 832003, China
Yu Gong: Southampton Business School, University of Southampton, Southampton SO17 3QY, UK
Mohammed Alharithi: Department of Management, College of Business Administration, Prince Sattam Bin Abdulaziz University, Al-Kharj 11942, Saudi Arabia

Sustainability, 2025, vol. 17, issue 6, 1-16

Abstract: The issue of carbon emissions in the plastic supply chain has attracted global attention, and relevant countries have formulated and introduced economic policies and measures to reduce plastic carbon emissions. To solve this dilemma, some scholars have proposed the path of empowering the plastic supply chain through digital technology to achieve carbon reduction. However, there are few research results on the mechanism of digital technology empowering the carbon reduction of the plastic supply chain. This paper analyzes the results of carbon reduction research in digitally enabled supply chains through a bibliometric review method. Using the keywords of digitally enabled, plastic supply chain, and carbon footprint, the relevant literature of Web of Science was collected, and the research trends, keyword co-occurrence phenomena, and research hotspots were analyzed by VOSviewer. The findings of this study form six clusters of carbon reduction and digitalization research results in the plastic supply chain, from which we derive six future research directions in the field, such as “carbon emission reduction in the consumer side of the plastics supply chain”, “The development of digital industrialization of carbon emission reduction” etc. The contribution of this article lies in constructing a theoretical framework model for digital technology empowering carbon reduction in the plastic supply chain, which provides a theoretical basis for governments and plastic industry enterprises to promote carbon neutrality.

Keywords: digital empowerment; plastic supply chain; carbon emission reduction; knowledge graph (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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