A review of reverse logistics and closed-loop supply chains in the perspective of circular economy

Abstract

PurposeThis paper presents a systematic literature review of the various aspects of reverse logistics (RL) and closed-loop supply chains (CLSC) in implementing and achieving circular economy (CE) motives. CE is identified as a method of embracing imperishability into the economic structure, helping shift from a linear to a condition leading to ecological and social benefits.Design/methodology/approachSystematic literature was used to review a total of 80 peer-reviewed articles are included in the study and covers different concepts related to the implementation of CE, such as cost-saving, network design, sustainable RL, waste management and extended producer responsibility.FindingsThe findings reveal that the research in the domain is in a growing phase, and in recent years, a lot of attention has been given by researchers across the globe. However, further research is required in crucial areas for the adoption of CE, such as retail reverse logistics, pharmaceutical industries and resource recycling industry.Practical implicationsThe study discusses the business needs and solutions for industries. Key enablers and barriers are listed along with the main activities involved in each sector in CLSC. Managers can design a pathway to decide which lever to use to overcome a particular challenge.Originality/valueThe work contributes theoretically by developing research themes in RL and CLSC practices applied to CE. It also provides theoretical and practical implications of the study, which can be used as a signboard for further research.

Modeling the Barriers of a Circular Economy for Enhancing Competitiveness: An Interpretive Structural Modeling Approach

“…CE is an excellent solution to such problems which provides opportunities to circulate the resources and extend the life of the resources. This has drawn the attention of researchers from every field toward CE (Mishra et al, 2022a ). In business management domain, some noteworthy studies include the work of Bag et al ( 2018 ); Bag and Pretorius ( 2020 ); Bag and Rahman ( 2021 ); Bag et al ( 2022a ).…”

“…Jain et al ( 2018 ) also provided an integrative framework for measuring CE performance. However, further study is needed in areas that are important for the implementation of CE, like the resource recycling business, pharmaceutical industries, and reverse logistics (Mishra et al, 2022a ). According to Manoharan et al ( 2021 ), unawareness/limited knowledge, cost, and financial constraints are the main impediments to the implementation of CE in the automotive industry, whereas benefit sharing and cost reduction are the most important drivers.…”

Designing circular supply chains in start-up companies: evidence from Italian fashion and construction start-ups

“…, 2018). Open-loop flows are characterized by higher complexity than closed-loop flows because they require the involvement of actors that are external to the linear supply chain (Mishra et al. , 2022).…”

“…Batista et al, 2018;De Angelis et al, 2018). Open-loop flows are characterized by higher complexity than closed-loop flows because they require the involvement of actors that are external to the linear supply chain (Mishra et al, 2022). Additionally, while the concept of circular value creation in closed-loop networks primarily relates to the output of manufacturing processes, open-loop networks usually consider by-products and other sources of waste in the contribution to value creation (Batista et al, 2018).…”

“…While in closed-loop networks, the supply chain actors in both supply chains are the same, in the case of open-loop flows, these two supply chains can include various actors from different industries (Farooque et al. , 2019; Mishra et al. , 2022).…”