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Trans. Planning Journal
| Title | Optimal Operational Model for Reverse Logistics of Hazardous Wastes in Taiwan |
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| Author | Jiuh-Biing Sheu, Tung-Lai Hu, Kuan-Hsiung Huang |
| Summary | Reverse logistics in the treatment of hazardous wastes has remained a critical issue for decades, either in Taiwan or around the world. This study intends to propose an optimization-based approach to modeling the operational problems of business reverse logistics for the purpose of dealing with the treatment as well as distribution of hazardous wastes in Taiwan. The proposed method primarily involves a linear objective function denoting the major items of operating costs in the process of reverse logistics with respect to hazardous wastes, and related constraints that restrict the optimum solutions to their feasible domains. One distinctive feature of the proposed optimization model is that the order entries of a waste-distribution enterprise are controllable rather than open for its customers, and they should be subject to the logistics capacity of the enterprise. Such a treatment, in reality, reflects the distinction of a waste-distribution enterprise in terms of the operational conditions in comparison with traditional business operations facing open and demand-driven markets. In addition, interview surveys and real case studies are conducted to verify the applicability of the proposed method. Through several designed case studies, the numerical results have demonstrated the applicability of the proposed model. We expect that this study can stimulate more researchers devoting themselves to the field of reverse logistics as well as investigating feasible solutions to the complicated operating problems relevant to the treatment and distribution of hazardous wastes in Taiwan. |
| Vol. | 31 |
| No. | 3 |
| Page | 611 |
| Year | 2002 |
| Month | 9 |
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