Over the last decade, the concept of the circular economy has regained attention, especially related to efforts to achieve a more sustainable society. The ‘revival’ of the circular economy has been accompanied by controversies and confusions across different actors in science and practice. With this article we attempt at contributing to advanced clarity in the field and providing a heuristic that is useful in practice. Initially, we take a focus on the historical development of the concept of circular economy and value retention options (ROs) for products and materials aiming for increased circularity. We propose to distinguish three phases in the evolution of the circular economy and argue that the concept – in its dominant framing – is not as new as frequently claimed. Having established this background knowledge, we give insights into ‘how far we are’ globally, with respect to the implementation of circularity, arguing that high levels of circularity have already been reached in different parts of the globe with regard to longer loop value retention options, such as energy recovery and recycling. Subsequently, we show that the confusion surrounding the circular economy is more far reaching. We summarize the divergent perspectives on retention options and unite the most common views a 10R typology. From our analyses, we conclude that policymakers and businesses should focus their efforts on realization of the more desirable, shorter loop retention options, like remanufacturing, refurbishing and repurposing – yet with a view on feasibility and overall system effects. Scholars, on the other hand, should assist the parties contributing to an increased circular economy in practice by taking up a more active role in attaining consensus in conceptualizing the circular economy.

The circular economy: New or Refurbished as CE 3.0? — Exploring Controversies in the Conceptualization of the Circular Economy through a Focus on History and Resource Value Retention Options

How do scholars approach the circular economy? A systematic literature review

Evolution of sustainability in supply chain management: A literature review

In recent years, reverse logistics (RL) has become a field of importance for all organizations due to growing environmental concerns, legislation, corporate social responsibility and sustainable competitiveness. RL refers to the sequence of activities required to collect the used product from the customers for the purpose of either reuse or repair or re-manufacture or recycle or dispose of it. Perusal of the literature shows that research in the field of RL is in evolving phase and issues pertaining to adoption and implementation, forecasting product returns, outsourcing, RL networks from secondary market perspective, and disposition decisions have not been reviewed extensively. This study attempts to fill the existing gap through literature review on these issues, and outline the future directions for research based on research gap analysis. Total 242 published articles were selected, categorized, analyzed, and gaps in literature were identified to suggest for future research opportunities. The review may be useful for academicians, researchers and practitioners for better understanding of RL and guidance for future research.

A literature review and perspectives in reverse logistics

Multi-Criteria Decision Analysis (MCDA) methods are widely used in various fields and disciplines. While most of the research has been focused on the development and improvement of new MCDA methods, relatively limited attention has been paid to their appropriate selection for the given decision problem. Their improper application decreases the quality of recommendations, as different MCDA methods deliver inconsistent results. The current paper presents a methodological and practical framework for selecting suitable MCDA methods for a particular decision situation. A set of 56 available MCDA methods was analysed and, based on that, a hierarchical set of methods' characteristics and the rule base were obtained. This analysis, rules and modelling of the uncertainty in the decision problem description allowed to build a framework supporting the selection of a MCDA method for a given decision-making situation. The practical studies indicate consistency between the methods recommended with the proposed approach and those used by the experts in reference cases. The results of the research also showed that the proposed approach can be used as a general framework for selecting an appropriate MCDA method for a given area of decision support, even in cases of data gaps in the decision-making problem description. The proposed framework was implemented within a web platform available for public use at www.mcda.it.

Generalised framework for multi-criteria method selection

Reverse logistics has become an important issue for most of the organizations due to increased flow of product returns and growing concern for the environment, legislation, and corporate social responsibility. Reverse logistics activities include product collection, inspection and sorting, disposition (reuse, repair, remanufacture or recycle), and redistribution of products. One of the important decisions is whether such activities must be outsourced partly or all must be outsourced or nothing must be outsourced. The articles on the selection of third party reverse logistics service providers are abundant but the articles on outsourcing reverse logistics fully or partly are very limited. The proposed study develops a framework for outsourcing decisions in reverse logistics by using graph theoretic approach. The ability of graph theoretic approach to consider interdependencies and maintaining hierarchical relationship among attributes and sub-attributes makes it an attractive approach. The attributes and sub-attributes were selected by combining four traditional balanced scorecard perspectives i.e. stakeholder, internal business process, learning and growth, and finance with triple bottom line aspects of sustainability known as sustainable balanced scorecard. By considering sustainable balanced scorecard based attributes and sub-attributes, organizations can ensure their contribution toward sustainability even after outsourcing the reverse logistics activities. The proposed framework is illustrated by case example of a mobile manufacturing firm. Scenario based alternatives were developed and “outsourcing index” were calculated for all the alternatives by evaluating permanent function using graph theoretic approach. The best alternative was selected based on the “outsourcing index”. The proposed framework will help managers and practitioners in outsourcing reverse logistics decisions.

Outsourcing decisions in reverse logistics: Sustainable balanced scorecard and graph theoretic approach

In last few decades, circular economy concepts have gained a lot of consideration because of its focus towards sustainability. Reverse logistics play an important role in the adoption and implementation of circular economy concepts in supply chains. It is defined as “sequence of activities required to collect the used product from the customers for their disposition to either reuse or repair or re-manufacture or recycle or dispose of it”. Disposition is one of the crucial decisions which may greatly affect the reverse logistics performance from sustainability perspective. It also plays an important role in improving the operational efficiency of the reverse logistics. The objective of this study is to explore the reverse logistics in context of Indian electronics industry and examine the effect of disposition decisions on Triple Bottom Line (TBL) i.e. economic, environmental, and social performance of reverse logistics. Hypotheses related to disposition decisions and TBL performance was developed. A survey instrument was prepared and was sent to seven hundred organizations from the Indian electronics sector. Over all 208 responses were found suitable for the research. All the necessary statistical analysis was carried out to ensure the reliability and validity of the questionnaire. Partial least square path modelling technique of structural equation modeling has been used for testing the research hypothesis. Measurement model had shown sufficient data fit for the modelling. Partial least square path modelling results reveal that effectiveness of disposition decisions is positively associated with TBL performance. The article contributes to the few studies available on improving the reverse logistics performance. Findings will be useful for managers in managing reverse logistics in effective manner.

Analyzing disposition decisions for sustainable reverse logistics: Triple Bottom Line approach

Electronics industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the world. In India also, there are high turnovers and growing demand of electronics product especially after post liberalization in early nineties. These products generate e-waste which has become big environmental issue. Industries can handle these e-waste and product returns efficiently by developing reverse logistics (RL) system. A thorough study of critical success factors (CSFs) and their ordered implementation is essential for successful RL implementation. The aim of the study is to review the CSFs, and to prioritize them for RL implementation in Indian electronics industry. Twelve CSFs were identified through literature review, and discussion with the experts from the Indian electronics industry. Fuzzy-Technique for Order Preference by Similarity to Ideal Solution (TOPSIS) approach is proposed for prioritizing these CSFs. Perusal of literature indicates that fuzzy-TOPSIS has not been applied earlier for prioritization of CSFs in Indian electronics industry. Five Indian electronics companies were selected for evaluation of this methodology. Results indicate that most of the identified factors are crucial for the RL implementation. Top management awareness, resource management, economic factors, and contracts terms and conditions are top four prioritized factor, and process capabilities and skilled workers is the least prioritized factor. The findings will be useful for successful RL implementation in Indian electronics industry.

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Saurabh Agrawal

Papers

A literature review and perspectives in reverse logistics

Outsourcing decisions in reverse logistics: Sustainable balanced scorecard and graph theoretic approach

Analyzing disposition decisions for sustainable reverse logistics: Triple Bottom Line approach

Prioritizing critical success factors for reverse logistics implementation using fuzzy-TOPSIS methodology

Disposition decisions in reverse logistics: Graph theory and matrix approach