TY - JOUR
T1 - Multimodal network design for sustainable household plastic recycling
AU - Bing Xiaoyun, Xiaoyun
AU - Groot, J.J.
AU - Bloemhof, J.M.
AU - van der Vorst, J.G.A.J.
PY - 2013
Y1 - 2013
N2 - Purpose – This research studies a plastic recycling system from a reverse logistics angle and
investigates the potential benefits of a multimodality strategy to the network design of plastic
recycling. This research aims to quantify the impact of multimodality on the network, to provide
decision support for the design of more sustainable plastic recycling networks in the future.
Design/methodology/approach – A MILP model is developed to assess different plastic waste
collection, treatment and transportation scenarios. Comprehensive costs of the network are considered,
including emission costs. A baseline scenario represents the optimized current situation while other
scenarios allow multimodality options (barge and train) to be applied.
Findings – Results show that transportation cost contributes to about 7 percent of the total cost and
multimodality can bring a reduction of almost 20 percent in transportation costs (CO2-eq emissions
included). In our illustrative case with two plastic separation methods, the post-separation channel
benefits more from a multimodality strategy than the source-separation channel. This relates to the
locations and availability of intermediate facilities and the quantity of waste transported on each route.
Originality/value – This study applies a reverse logistics network model to design a plastic
recycling network with special structures and incorporates a multimodality strategy to improve
sustainability. Emission costs (carbon
AB - Purpose – This research studies a plastic recycling system from a reverse logistics angle and
investigates the potential benefits of a multimodality strategy to the network design of plastic
recycling. This research aims to quantify the impact of multimodality on the network, to provide
decision support for the design of more sustainable plastic recycling networks in the future.
Design/methodology/approach – A MILP model is developed to assess different plastic waste
collection, treatment and transportation scenarios. Comprehensive costs of the network are considered,
including emission costs. A baseline scenario represents the optimized current situation while other
scenarios allow multimodality options (barge and train) to be applied.
Findings – Results show that transportation cost contributes to about 7 percent of the total cost and
multimodality can bring a reduction of almost 20 percent in transportation costs (CO2-eq emissions
included). In our illustrative case with two plastic separation methods, the post-separation channel
benefits more from a multimodality strategy than the source-separation channel. This relates to the
locations and availability of intermediate facilities and the quantity of waste transported on each route.
Originality/value – This study applies a reverse logistics network model to design a plastic
recycling network with special structures and incorporates a multimodality strategy to improve
sustainability. Emission costs (carbon
KW - supply-chain management
KW - transportation
U2 - 10.1108/IJPDLM-04-2012-01134
DO - 10.1108/IJPDLM-04-2012-01134
M3 - Article
SN - 0960-0035
VL - 43
SP - 452
EP - 477
JO - International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management
JF - International Journal of Physical Distribution & Logistics Management
IS - 5/6
ER -