Barriers to Green Manufacturing Implementation: A Systematic Literature Review of Internal and External Challenges.

Ajib Haryanto; Irawan Sukma; Agus Darmawan

doi:10.12928/si.v24i1.573

Authors

Ajib Haryanto Departement of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, 55281, Indonesia
Irawan Sukma Departement of Mechanical Engineering, Chiba University, Chiba, 263-8522, Japan
Agus Darmawan Departement of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, 55281, Indonesia

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.12928/si.v24i1.573

Keywords:

Green manufacturing, Institutional barriers, Organizational barriers, Sustainable manufacturing, Systematic literature review

Abstract

Green manufacturing has emerged as a strategic response to escalating concerns over industrial pollution, resource depletion, and climate change, yet its implementation remains limited, particularly in developing economies. Manufacturing firms face a dual pressure to sustain competitiveness while reducing environmental impacts, creating trade-offs between short-term economic objectives and long-term sustainability goals. This study responds to that problem by conducting a systematic review of recent research to identify the main internal and external barriers that hinder the adoption of green manufacturing practices. The review aims to provide a structured understanding of these challenges as a basis for more effective managerial and policy interventions. The primary contribution of this paper is an updated synthesis of ten key barriers to green manufacturing, grouped into internal and external categories and derived from high-quality journal publications between 2020 and 2025. Methodologically, this research adopts a three-phase systematic literature review. First, articles were collected from ScienceDirect, SCOPUS, IEEE, and Emerald using general and specific keywords for the period January 2020–October 2025, generating a large initial dataset. Second, the dataset was refined using journal-quality criteria (SJR > 1.0), duplicate removal, and relevance screening at abstract and full-text levels, resulting in 47 core articles. Third, content analysis combining qualitative interpretation and simple quantitative aggregation was applied to identify and interpret barrier-related themes. The results indicate ten dominant barriers, including weak sustainability-oriented culture, limited knowledge and training, high initial and operational costs, insufficient R&D and technology, lack of skilled human resources, limited managerial commitment, inadequate government support, ineffective supply chain management, and low customer awareness and demand. These interacting barriers particularly constrain small and medium-sized enterprises, thereby slowing the wider diffusion of green manufacturing despite its demonstrated environmental and economic benefits.

Author Biography

Agus Darmawan, Departement of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Yogyakarta, 55281, Indonesia

Academic and Lecturer in the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering at Universitas Gadjah Mada (UGM), whose research expertise centers on advanced methodologies within industrial and systems engineering. His primary scholarly fields, as demonstrated by his Google Scholar profile, include Logistics and Supply Chain Management (SCM), System Modeling and Simulation, Planning and Scheduling, Optimization, and Sustainability. His intellectual contributions are highly regarded, possessing a substantial academic footprint on Google Scholar, which reflects his profound impact and significant influence on the study and application of efficient industrial and operations systems.

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