Fostering reverse logistics in India by prominent barrier identification and strategy implementation to promote circular economy

Abstract

Reverse Logistics (RL) is becoming a critical strategic differentiator among organisations and business entities for a sustainable environment, value creation, and promoting a Circular Economy (CE). Hence, this topic is relevant in the current Indian context. This paper explores the RL practices that drive operational efficiency while promoting cleaner production. This study aims to identify the barriers to RL implementation and bring together a practical approach to overcome all the relevant barriers in the RL sector in the Indian context. The survey of previous literature suggests that researchers have tried to prioritise barriers to RL implementation. However, this paper intends to analyse the barriers from a CE perspective and propose a framework for developing strategies with a structured implementation for managers in India’s RL industry. Effects of these barriers have been analysed, while concurrently developing strategies to mitigate them and gauge the impact of strategies on the system of barriers using an evaluation model developed by incorporating quantitative techniques-grey-DEMATEL (Decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory), agglomerative hierarchical clustering, fuzzy measure and fuzzy integral. The study aims to serve as a guiding framework for decision-makers to identify the barriers in their organisations and map the barriers to contemporary strategies to tackle them. The insights from the analysis show difficulty in managing quality of circular goods as the prominent barrier followed by a lack of responsibility and initiation by top management. Key strategies identified to mitigate the barriers are classified into priority, long-term, contingency, and non-priority zones. Consumer education, proper logistics network utilisation and efficient warehousing are key strategies that companies should adopt on a priority basis.