Closing the loop: Establishing reverse logistics for a circular economy, a systematic review

Circular economy life cycle cost for kerbside waste material looping process

Rapid expansion in urban areas has engendered a superfluity of municipal solid waste (MSW) stemming from contemporary civilization, encompassing commercial sectors and human undertakings. Kerbside waste, a type of MSW, has the potential for recycling and reuse at the end of its first life cycle, but is often limited to a linear cycle. This study aimed to assess the life cycle costs of different separation and recycling methods for handling kerbside waste. A new life cycle cost model, drawing from the circular economy's value retention process (VRP) model, has been created and applied to assess the continuous recycling of kerbside glass. The study investigates two key separation techniques, kerbside recycling mixed bin recycling (KRMB) kerbside glass recycling separate bin (KGRSB) and analyses their impact on the life cycle cost of the recycling process. Additionally, the research explores two approaches of recycling and downcycling: closed-loop recycling, which pertains to the recycling of glass containers, and open-looped recycling, which involves the use of recycled glass in asphalt. The results showed when use annually collected waste as the functional unit, the KRMB model incurred lower costs compared to the KGRSB model due to its lower production output. However, when evaluated over a 1-ton production of glass container and asphalt, the KGRSB method demonstrated superior cost performance with a 40-50% reduction compared to the KRMB method. The open-loop recycling method (asphalt) incurred a higher cost compared to the closed-loop recycling method due to its larger production volume over a 21-year period.

Beyond profit margins: Orchestrating social, economic, and environmental sustainability within the Norwegian Salmon Food Supply Chain

Food Supply Chains (FSCs) have become increasingly complex with the average distance between producers and consumers rising considerably in the past two decades. Consequently, FSCs are a major source of carbon emissions and reducing transportation costs a major challenge for businesses. To address this, we present a mathematical model to promote the three core dimensions of sustainability (economic, environmental, and social), based on the Mixed-Integer Linear Programming (MILP) method. The model addresses the environmental dimension by intending to decrease the carbon emissions of different transport modes involved in the logistics network. Several supply chain network characteristics are incorporated and evaluated, with a consideration of social sustainability (job generation from operating various facilities). The mathematical model's robustness is demonstrated by testing and deploying it to a variety of problem instances. A real-life case study (Norwegian salmon supply chain) helps to comprehend the model's applicability. To understand the importance of optimizing food supply networks holistically, the paper investigates the impact of multiple supply chain permutations on total cost, demand fluctuations and carbon emissions. To address fluctuations in retail demand, we undertook sensitivity analysis for variations in demand, enabling the proposed model to revamp Norway's salmon supply chain network. Subsequently, the results are thoroughly examined to identify managerial implications.

Antecedents and consequents of circular economy adoption: A meta-Analytic Investigation

This paper aims to integrate and empirically assess the antecedents and consequents of circular economy (CE) adoption to remove ambiguity existing in the literature and clarify divergent views. This study uses meta-analysis methodology to validate the research framework, considering 106 empirical studies with 210 effect sizes. Based on these studies, we establish twelve antecedents and three consequents related to CE. Antecedents are categorized in a technological-organizational-environmental framework and consequents in the sustainability outcomes. The result suggests that organisational factors are more prominent in driving CE practices, followed by environmental and technological factors. In the organisational category, the three most influencing factors are managing product returns, green manufacturing, and environmental strategy. In the environmental category, coercive pressure is the most influential factor, followed by mimetic and social pressures. Emerging I4.0 technologies are the most prominent factor in the technological category. Our study suggests that CE helps to achieve sustainable performance by significantly enabling economic, environmental, and social outcomes. This study further analyses how contextual factors such as national culture (masculinity) and economic regions influence the various relationships with CE using subgroup analysis. The moderation results show that low masculine culture and developing economies are more effectively using the I4.0 technologies to drive CE adoption than high masculine culture and developed economies. Additionally, different dimensions of sustainability are also influenced by the variations in masculinity and economic regions.

Designing a sustainable reverse logistics network for used cell phones based on offline and online trading systems

Unsustainable production and consumption are driving a significant increase in global electronic waste, posing substantial environmental and human health risks. Even in more developed nations, there is the challenge of low collection rates. In response, we integrate offline and online trading systems and design a material efficiency strategy for used cell phones. We propose a new multi-objective optimization framework to maximize profit, carbon emissions reduction, and circularity in the process of recycling and treatment. Considering multi-period, multi-product, multi-echelon features, as well as price sensitive demand, incentives, and qualities, we established a new multi-objective mixed-integer nonlinear programming optimization model. An enhanced, Fast, Non-Dominated Solution Sorting Genetic Algorithm (ASDNSGA-II) is developed for the solution. We used operational data from a leading Chinese Internet platform to validate the proposed optimization framework. The results demonstrate that the reverse logistics network designed achieves a win-win situation regarding profit and carbon emission reduction. This significantly boosts confidence and motivation for engaging in recycling efforts. Online recycling shows robust profitability and carbon reduction capabilities. An effective coordination mechanism for pricing in both online and offline channels should be established, retaining offline methods while gradually transitioning towards online methods. To increase the collection rate, it is essential to jointly implement a transitional strategy, including recycling incentives and subsidy policies. Additionally, elevating customer environmental awareness should be viewed as a long-term strategy, mitigating the cost of increasing collection rates during the market maturity stage (high collection rates).

Towards a circular economy: Development of a support tool for designing reverse logistics systems

Reverse Logistics (RL) of end-of-use/end-of-life products is a key approach for supporting the transition to a circular economy. However, lack of knowledge and experience in designing RL is one of the barriers for companies in implementing successful RL. This research proposes an RL support tool (RLST) for designing RL systems, developed through iterative cycles of theoretical development and empirical testing/feedback from potential users. The RLST builds upon the principles of configuration systems to adapt the various aspects of RL design into a knowledge base and, subsequently, into an Excel-based support tool - in addition to allowing companies to assess their motivation/driver and set the context (e.g., product characteristics, the existence and nature of Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) legislation), it supports the design of the RL network/channel and other aspects such as stakeholder collaboration, legislation, consumer behaviour and incentives, use of digital technologies, key performance indicators and factors around governance/programme management. Such a tool can be helpful for practitioners in addressing the knowledge gaps, stimulating discussions among stakeholders for scenario building and for analysing how different scenarios might work. The research advances the knowledge on RL systems design for the circular economy along with, for the first time, building knowledge and application of configuration systems in the field of RL.

Investigating the Drivers of the Reverse Logistics Implementation in Reducing Waste in Vietnam

Reverse logistics systems are now acknowledged as being crucial for enterprises to enhance their overall financial and environmental performance, particularly in developing nations where they face more challenges on both fronts. The majority of researchers examined drivers and barriers to implementation in developed nations. This study aims to investigate the main factors that positively influence the practice of reverse logistics in a developing country such as Vietnam. The study employed a sample of 287 managers within 5 industries. According to the findings, 4 key factors influenced the reverse logistics implementation in developing countries: economic drivers, competitive drivers, outsourcing drivers, and environmental drivers. Regulation drivers and reputation drivers have little influence on reverse logistics performance, contrary to predictions. The findings help scholars in understanding the factors influencing reverse logistics operations in emerging nations. Furthermore, the findings demonstrate differences in the drivers of reverse logistics execution in developing and developed countries.