An Artificial Intelligence Approach to Assessment and Guidelines for a Circular Economy

SUMMARYCurrently, manufacturing companies, regardless of the segment in which they operate, face the challenge of resource scarcity, price increases and even the difficulty of accessing raw materials, due to different factors such as pandemics or even international conflicts. By adopting circular practices, companies can operate in a closed production cycle, contributing to an economic balance and greater efficiency in the use of natural resources, while producing more sustainable products. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) can help companies in the challenges of finding a more sustainable production. AI enables companies to support the development and planning of more optimized and sustainable products and processes, as well as supporting the review of business models. Knowledge-based systems (KBS), subarea of ​​AI and technology targeted in this article, are systems that use human knowledge to solve specific problems in a given domain that can be used by companies in both public and private companies. According to the research literature, KBS is a widely used technology and may be opportune for the development of more sustainable products and processes, providing less environmental impact on soil, water and air.The objective of this article is to propose an innovative conceptual model of KBS to provide assessment and guidelines to a circular model, according to the Overall Circularity Effectiveness (OCE) Index. The proposed KBS focuses on a key industrial field which is the metal-mechanical sector, enabling companies in this sector to use a KBS for circular transition. The conceptual model was developed from a theoretical review and the results of the present work indicate that the use of KBS to support the development of circular products and processes is opportune