Reverse logistics in the construction industry

Abstract

Reverse logistics in construction refers to the movement of products and materials from salvaged buildings to a new construction site. While there is a plethora of studies looking at various aspects of the reverse logistics chain, there is no systematic review of literature on this important subject as applied to the construction industry. Therefore, the objective of this study is to integrate the fragmented body of knowledge on reverse logistics in construction, with the aim of promoting the concept among industry stakeholders and the wider construction community. Through a qualitative meta-analysis, the study synthesises the findings of previous studies and presents some actions needed by industry stakeholders to promote this concept within the real-life context. First, the trend of research and terminology related with reverse logistics is introduced. Second, it unearths the main advantages and barriers of reverse logistics in construction while providing some suggestions to harness the advantages and mitigate these barriers. Finally, it provides a future research direction based on the review.

Municipal solid waste in Brazil: A review

“…The NPSW establishes that reverse logistics is compulsory for the following products: pesticides and their respective waste and packaging; batteries and refills; tyres; lubricating oils and their respective waste and packaging; fluorescent lamps, sodium and mercury vapour lamps, and mixed light lamps; electronic products and their components; medicines; and packaging in general (Presidência da República, 2010). An effective strategy to make organizations more competitive is the implementation of reverse logistics (Hosseini et al, 2015;Lau and Wang, 2009).…”

Understanding and overcoming the barriers to structural steel reuse, a UK perspective

“…These are: the perceived risk in specifying reused materials; cost: reuse could be more expensive; composite construction (for structural steel: concrete and metal deck flooring with shear studs connected to steel floor beams); lack of reuse markets and supply chains; time constraints which favours demolition over deconstruction; and inaccessible/irreversible joints. Hosseini et al (2015) considers barriers to reuse as part of a broader review of the academic literature focusing on the challenges of introducing reverse logistics in the construction sector. The author identifies a total of 20 barriers, distinguishing between industry-specific barriers g. buildings not designed for easy dismantling and organisational barriers, e.g.…”

Barreiras à implementação da Logística Reversa e do Green Supply Chain Management (GSCM)

“…Tais barreiras se relacionam aos seguintes elementos: possibilidade de altos investimentos e incertos retornos econômicos na adoção de práticas ambientais como GSCM e LR, altos custos para operacionalizar a LR e em especial a de substâncias perigosas, falta de alocação de recursos financeiros para tais práticas, dificuldade em obter empréstimos bancários, impasses na divisão de recompensas e custos relativos à LR pelos agentes da cadeia direta ou reversa. Em relação aos custos, muitas vezes, os baixos custos de descarte de materiais em aterros não justificam os custos da LR (CHILESHE et al, 2015;HOSSEINI et al, 2015;LI et al, 2015): custos de transporte de retorno, de remanufatura ou reciclagem e o preço de revenda (CHIOU et al, 2012). O tempo, a qualidade e a quantidade de retorno dos produtos são incertos, o que reduz a obtenção de economias de escala (PRAKASH; BARUA, 2015).…”