RLMT

Successful Business Management Practices in Reverse Logistics: Electronics Electronics return/recycling is a rapidly evolving industry that has continued to empower organizations to find new ways to increase revenue stream from product return/recycling as well as pose a large supply chain challenge. With so many innovations already implemented with the return of electronics, corporations are now confronted with the reality that there are fewer and fewer avenues of optimization to be explored. More specifically, steps are taken toward improving one of the more onerous and often times ignored aspects of commercial reverse logistics: electronics. The use of electronic products has grown substantially over the past two decades, changing the way/speed in which people communicate, how information is attained and personal entertainment. “The 2009 Residential Energy Consumption Survey (RECS) shows that U.S. households continue to increase their use of consumer electronics, especially televisions, personal computers, and related equipment. Nearly 45% of households in 2009 had three or more televisions, an increase from less than 30% in 1997. Similarly, the majority of households had no computer in 1997; now over 76% have at least one computer” ("U.S. Household increases," 2011). With the ever-evolving electronic industry, organizations are continually marketing products that boast better and more efficient than the previous model, thus promoting consumers to replace or upgrade their existing electronic devices. In the Presidential Proclamation for America Recycles Day, November 2010, the President established an Interagency Task Force on Electronics Stewardship charging the task force with developing a national strategy for electronics stewardship (Obama, 2010). Gone are the days of observing televisions and other electronics waste (e-waste) sitting outside of dumpsters and street corners.
With these technologies, however, comes the increasing challenge of