Trends and Issues of the Study on Reverse Logistics : A review

Abstract

This article reviews concepts of reverse logistics and research works on the reverse logistics. In the early days, it was defined as the inverse process of logistics. However, the concept was later extended to include the perspective of the environment and economy, since increased flow of the returned goods and waste material became an important issue. Many researches have responded to the need of conducting research on this new perspective on reverse logistics. This study conducts review on four main areas, such as general framework, reverse logistics system, models, and related laws, and finally points out the areas in need of further research on the reverse logistics.