Relationships between eco-design, resources commitment and reverse logistics: conceptual framework

Abstract

Reverse logistics refers to the goods flow from customer to producer. Returns may be from the development phase, the use phase or from products recovery in end of life. Due to scarcity of natural resources and raw materials, as well their increased processing costs, companies are committed to track sustainable development principles in their activities to ensure competitiveness and profitability. This can be materialized through eco-design practice and committed resources optimization. In this framework, this paper tries to model the relationship between product’s eco-design, resources commitment and reverse logistics. Hence, through sections, binary relationship of eco-design, resources commitment and reverse logistics will be discussed and conceptually modeled. Finally, a case study related to canned tomato packaging will be proposed.