LAUSR

Abstract Corporate and academic interest in the concept of industrial metabolism has risen considerably in recent years. This can be observed in the number of papers published. In order to go deep into current and future trends in this field, the paper objective is multiple. Firstly, the purpose of this paper is to carry out a literature review on industrial metabolism. Secondly, this paper offers a summary of the research in this field, performing a descriptive analysis based on identifying temporal distribution of publications, journals in which papers are published and classifying different applications of industrial metabolism concept. Thus, this paper seeks to provide a review of the main approaches to industrial metabolism. Finally, an overview of immense opportunities for the implementation of industrial metabolism based on Industry 4.0 is presented.