Building a Greener Supply Chain with Blockchain: A Review and Future Research Directions

The increased public awareness, strict government regulations, and fast-paced technological advancements have made green supply chain research a crucial aspect of sustainability. To stay competitive in the global market, industries are adopting Industry 4.0 (I4.0) technologies. However, not many studies have explored the integration of I4.0 and Blockchain (BC) in the development of Green Supply Chain (GSC) and the emerging research themes in recent years. This study aims to fill that gap by identifying the research themes. Current study uses citation analysis to assess the most influential authors, journals, and countries, while keyword co-occurrence analysis is used to analyze the thematic evolution and popular topics in the green supply chain. The study provides a comprehensive and clear overview of the research themes that have emerged in the green supply chain from 2017 to February 11, 2023. The primary objective of the study is to conduct an in-depth bibliometric analysis of how Industry 4.0 and Blockchain technologies can enhance the green supply chain. The study highlights the potential of blockchain tools in solving issues related to the green supply chain. This study can benefit a wide range of stakeholders, including researchers, practitioners, policymakers, and organizations in the field of sustainability, green supply chain, Industry 4.0, and blockchain technology. Researchers can use the study's findings to identify new research themes, and potential collaborations, and understand the state of the art in the field.