Utilizing hybrid metaheuristic approach to design an agricultural closed-loop supply chain network

Abstract

Nowadays, recent advances and developments in the agricultural sector have raised concerns regarding the environmental impact of agricultural wastes and the safety of agricultural products. Recently, reverse logistics have been used to address these issues. It is also possible to reduce the environmental impact of these by-products and return them to the network by opening compost centers and designing an optimal supply chain distribution network. In this paper, a new mixed linear mathematical model is developed for an agriculture supply chain network to minimize the total fixed and variable costs of the closed-loop supply chain,. To address the proposed model, efficient and well-known old and recent meta-heuristic algorithms are utilized. Besides, to boost intensification and diversification phases, three hybrid meta-heuristic algorithms are developed. Finally, the quality of the meta-heuristic and hybrid algorithms are investigated and compared.