Quantifying uncertainties related to reverse logistics implementation: state of the art

Abstract

It’s been over six decades that Reverse Logistics (RL) appeared as a research area, and it is emerging again and again in the scientific fields. As RL present real potential for value recovery and environmental impacts decreases, it’s still necessary to extend this concept more in the industrial and commercial field especially in developing countries. The process of RL is a progression of steps beginning with the customer and finishing with the organization or even the customer, however the issue is that this cycle must be adjustable to the organization concerned, in addition of legislative, operational, financial and social obstacles. Literature had demonstrated that there are many other barriers and uncertainties while the implementation of this process that vary in function of the sector concerned and the kind of activity. Besides, even if the literature on this topic has grown in recent years, it remains focused on specific sectors and has not yet been widely generalized, mainly due these persistent uncertainties. Our paper aims to help bridge this gap by providing a state-of- the-art review that identifies methods for uncertainties quantification (UQ) in RL processes. The goal is to support researchers in developing solutions that facilitate the implementation of RL.