# Circular Economy Strategy Selection Through a Digital Twin Approach
## 5 Discussion
### Final Remarks, Practical Implications, and Managerial Insights  
Based on the results of this analysis, some practical implications and guidelines are proposed. The aim is to help companies to choose the best strategy within a CE context. **1. Prioritize on-site inspections to reach environmental sustainability**  
For companies seeking to reduce their environmental footprint within a CE framework, conducting on-site inspections (at the customer's location) typically represents the most sustainable approach. This strategy significantly minimizes transportation needs by eliminating the need to transport flooring back and forth between the customer site and the manufacturer's facility. This is especially true when the remanufacturing practice is prevalent and it can be also performed on-site, as the focus on reusing and extending the life cycle of materials aligns with the environmental principles of waste reduction and resource efficiency. On-site inspections further optimize sustainability by ensuring that only flooring requiring remanufacturing is processed, while materials deemed unsuitable for reuse can be immediately discarded or repurposed, avoiding unnecessary transportation. Additionally, this practice reduces the energy consumption associated with the logistics of transporting large volumes of flooring. This conclusion aligns with several studies in the literature that emphasize the role of localized decision-making and flexible reverse logistics in achieving environmental efficiency. For example, [PERSON] et al. [34] and [PERSON] et al. [39] demonstrated how simulation-based frameworks can support the optimization of remanufacturing under uncertain return conditions, showing that targeted, data-informed collection strategies can reduce environmental impacts. Similarly, [PERSON] et al. [40] confirmed that minimizing unnecessary transportation in closed-loop supply chains significantly contributes to reducing carbon footprints. Our findings also echo the results of [PERSON] et al. [35], who stressed that integrating real-time information in remanufacturing planning, enabled through hybrid simulation approaches, leads to smarter, more sustainable operations, particularly in decentralized settings. When evaluating the environmental advantages of on-site inspections, companies should also consider the potential environmental impact of the remanufacturing process itself. In some cases, remanufacturing may have a significant environmental footprint, especially when high-energy processes are involved. Therefore, adopting an integrated approach that balances the environmental costs of both logistics and remanufacturing is essential for achieving optimal sustainability outcomes. Moreover, it is important for companies to continually monitor and assess the environmental impacts of their strategies. Technological advancements in both transportation and remanufacturing processes can further enhance the sustainability of on-site inspection, making it an even more viable strategy as innovation progresses in the field of circular economy practices. While on-site inspections provide substantial environmental benefits, these advantages are maximized when combined with other CE practices, such as effective waste management, energy-efficient remanufacturing processes, and optimized transportation logistics. Future research and practice should explore the integration of these factors to create comprehensive, sustainable systems for product life cycle management. The observed trade-off between centralized vs. on-site inspections in reverse logistics operations can be generalized to other industries dealing with bulky and transport EoL products, which are frequently found in sectors such as those that manufacture furniture, appliances, and automotive components. Manufacturers could implement an initial screening mechanism--either via customer self-reporting tools or rapid on-site inspection protocols--to categorize returned products by quality.