The Proposition of a Mathematical Model for the Location of Electrical and Electronic Waste Collection Points

Abstract

Given the environmental impacts produced by the growing increase in waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) and their current inadequate management, this article proposes a mathematical model to define the best location for installing WEEE collection points. The objective is to minimize the cost of the reverse logistics system concerning transportation, installation, opportunity cost, and distance between points and demand. We used a heuristic created from the greedy randomized adaptive search procedure and genetic algorithm meta-heuristics to solve the model, with part of the model variables being defined by another heuristic or by the JuMP v.0.21.2 and CLP Solver v.0.7.1 packages, to guarantee an optimal response to a subproblem of these variables. The model and its solver were written in the Julia Programming Language and executed in two test scenarios. In the first, three vehicles with small loads must collect at five points. In the second, a vehicle with greater available capacity must collect at five points. The results obtained show that the mathematical model and the heuristic are adequate to solve the problem. Thus, we understood that the proposed method contributes to the literature, given the criticality of the current scenario concerning the management of WEEE, and it can assist managers and public policymakers when providing inputs for decision-making related to the choice of the best location for installing collection points.

Multi-Criteria Decision Making Approaches Applied to Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE): A Comprehensive Literature Review

“…This allows the management costs of the WEEE collection and manage-ment process to be optimized, ensuring an adequate number of vehicles and employees, and minimizing the length of routes, fuel consumption, and pollutant emissions. [45] Closed-Loop Supply Chain (CLSC) [46] Barriers to the sustainable development of WEEE treatment industry [37] WEEE reverse logistics model [47] Evaluation and selection of third-party logistics service [48] Selection of outsourcing firm for WEEE management [49] Evaluation of alternatives for WEEE management [44] Determine the WEEE priority to be included in the extended producer responsibility system [50] Analysis of barriers affecting the implementation of WEEE management [9] Analysis of barriers affecting the implementation of WEEE management [51] WEEE recycling partner evaluation [18] Prioritizing the solutions of reverse logistics [52] Evaluation and selection of third-party reverse logistics partner [53] Designing a sustainable recovery network [54] A closed-loop supply chain with a circular economy approach [19] Prioritizing solutions for reverse logistics barriers [55] Clustering and reducing supply chains complexity [56] Outsourcing contracts selection [6] New scenarios assessment [57] Prioritizing reverse logistics barriers [58] Innovation strategies for reverse logistics [59] Sustainable planning of WEEE recycling activities [60] Interdependence among the e-waste mitigation strategies (MS) by cause/effect analysis [61] Solutions for reverse logistics [7] Type of carrier to be used [62] Mobile collection with application of artificial intelligence [63] WEEE collection on demand [36] Improve WEEE management [64] Select hazardous waste carriers [65] Transportation network [66] Evaluation of sites for the location of WEEE recycling plants [67] Plant site selection...…”

“…Compared to the five dimensions considered, only four papers apply criteria representative of all dimensions ( [36,61,72,78]).…”

Optimizing a Reverse Supply Chain Network for Electronic Waste under Risk and Uncertain Factors

“…Objective function Total cost (Z) = collection costs (T1) + set-up costs (T2) + processing costs (T3) + transportation costs (T4) + disposal costs (T5) + risk costs (T6) − profit received from selling recovery materials and used items (P) Collection costs (T1) are to collect EoL products from consumers, end-users, or retailers, which can be described in Equation (2).…”

“…Currently, obsolete or old electronics are rapidly being replaced by new models with more advanced functions and attractive designs [1]. This has led to electronic waste (e-waste) being one of the world's fastest-growing wastes and it is estimated to increase to 52.2 million tonnes (mt) of e-waste in 2021 [2]. Current statistics show that China is the world's top e-waste producer, having generated 10.1 million tonness of e-waste in 2019.…”

Exploring Industry-Specific Research Themes on E-Waste: A Literature Review

“…On the other hand, an e-waste collection center plays an essential role in the effectiveness of the SC and logistics network. We can see only one paper adequately dedicated to the collection of e-waste [51]; one paper on collection systems from an RL perspective [118]; and two papers on location problems [119,120]. Therefore, more research is needed from such a perspective, as e-waste management is very much related to collection and location centers for properly and effectively handling e-waste, as it cannot operate independently.…”