Reverse logistic network design for quality reclaimed rubber

Abstract

Since the number of vehicles plying on the roads are growing, the number of used tires are also exponentially increasing. Tire recycling companies collects these used tires and/or Buffing powder of used tires through vendors and produces reclaimed rubber. But the availability of vendors with homogeneous, uniform quality materials in appropriate quantities is one of the challenges for such recycling companies. Hence tire recycling companies need a better reverse logistics network. In order to secure the production of high-quality buffing powder and, by extension, high-quality reclaimed rubber, this paper proposes a robust reverse logistics network. To validate, Buffing powder samples were collected from various routes and the quality characteristics of buffing powder found using experimental analysis. MATLAB has been used to present the results. It has been observed that the chemical compositions of buffing powder are much consistent in the proposed reverse logistic network, which processes non retreaded used tires. The consistent chemical compositions of buffing powder may enhance consistency in the quality of reclaimed rubber at a later stage. A reverse logistics network which ensures quality as well as reliable and consistent quantity buffing powder as input may improve the productivity of the used tires recycling plant.