Recycling of Products Causing Pollution: A Suggestive Reverse Supply Chain Model for India

Introduction The concept of reuse of metal scrap, waste paper, packing materials, soft drink bottles, etc has been in viable existence for some time. The primary reason for this is the simple fact that recycling of the used product is far more economical than disposal. Further, concerns for the environment have also promoted inclusion of several new products to the above list of ‘reusable’ items. Globally, waste reduction efforts have incubated the idea of developing reverse supply chains for recycling instead of only the forward supply chain. Total paper recycled in Europe, during 1994 was only 27.7 million tonnes. Thereafter, consumer awareness assured an annual increase in collections by about 70 per cent. By year 2000 Europe was recovering 43 per cent of the total paper consumption. During the same period, recycling of glass in Europe grew by almost 10 per cent (in tonnes collected) to more than 7 million tonnes, with a recycling rate of about 60 per cent (EUROSTAT, 1997). Regulations in Germany mandate recovery rate for packaging materials between 60 per cent and 75 per cent. The Netherlands reuses 46 per cent of all industrial waste (CBS, 1997). In these cases the concept of reuse gave rise to a new material flow system, i.e. from the user back to the producers. ‘The management of this material flow opposite to the conventional supply chain is a fast growing field and now addressed as reverse logistics’ (Stock, 1992) (Kopicky, 1993)