Sustainable Logistics

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Sustainable Logistics

• Two Industry Case Studies
• Theresa J. Barker
• IIE Western Region Meeting Webcast
• January 23, 2008

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Overview

• Why Sustainable Logistics?
• Case Study 1
• high-tech product refurbishing operation
• Case Study 2
• commodity recycling/reprocessing system
• A look at best practices, challenges

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Sustainable Logistics
Traditional Supply Chain Model
Customer
Disposal
Producer
Product flow
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Sustainable Logistics
Product Recovery Supply Chain Model
Reuse
Refurbish
Customer
Producer
Recycle
Disposal
Product flow
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Case Study 1 Major Medical Device Manufacturer

• medical diagnostic product
• high-tech refurbishing operation
• manufacturing facility in the Pacific Northwest
• customers nation-wide
• hospitals
• medical clinics
• small physician clinics
• product life 7-10 years
• fully serviced under contract

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Case Study 1Major Medical Device Manufacturer
reuse spare parts recovery recycle
Sims/United Reclaim Inc. (Chicago)
disposal
excess inventory
Producer Warehouse (Pacific Northwest)
potential refurbishing
refurbish
secondary market customer
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Case Study 1 Major Medical Device Manufacturer

• Best practices
• direct shipping of disposal to recycler
  (Sims/URI)
• refurbish on customer order (pull system)
• flexible spare part recovery
• Challenge
• ongoing uncertainty in demand/supply

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Case Study 2 City of Bellevue e-Waste

• curbside e-waste recycling
• commodity recycling system
• background government legislation
• Bellevue city contract with Allied Waste
• one of the first municipal e-waste recyclers
• implemented proactively, not due to legislation
• contract bid out for curbside pickup
• final disposition by Total Reclaim (Seattle)
• e-waste recycler

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Case Study 2 City of Bellevue e-Waste
curbside e-waste recycling
Total Reclaim (Seattle)
Allied Waste pickup
disposal
recycled components and materials
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Case Study 2 City of Bellevue e-Waste

• Best practices
• proactive approach ahead of the curve
• encourages high customer compliance
• benefits from economies of scale
• Challenge
• end-of-pipe solution

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Common Best Practices

• proactive approach
• take an early approach (City of Bellevue)
• design for reuse if possible (medical
  manufacturer)
• early shipping of scrap to reduce cost
• take advantage of economies of scale
• partner with dedicated recycler or processor
• incorporate existing collection systems
• strive for pull system where possible
• actively explore reuse product markets

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Common Challenges

• uncertainty in demand/supply volume of recovered
  products
• market value of reused products unknown
• reliance on heuristics/experience for product
  disposal decisions
• end-of-pipe solutions vs. design-for-reuse
  policies

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Sustainable Logistics

• Summary
• Product recovery increasingly prevalent
• Best if proactively approached
• Risks include higher uncertainty, undeveloped
  markets

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Sustainable Logistics

• For additional information, contact
• Theresa Barker
• Industrial Engineering, University of Washington
• barkertj_at_u.washington.edu
• Thanks to
• Tom Spille, Solid Waste Administrator
• City of Bellevue, Bellevue, Washington