Reverse logistics for used portable batteries in Spain - An analytical proposal for collecting batteries

Abstract

The disposal of batteries is a problem that has grown in the last few years, due to the increase in the use of portable devices. The main goal of this paper is to propose an analytic model for helping logistics managers to choose the appropriate location points in order to situate the collection points for used portable batteries in the Spanish context. The objective of the model is to collect, in an efficient way, the maximum number of portable batteries. The proposed model has two parts: a static part and a dynamic part. In the first part of the model (static part) we will compare the potential candidates for each alternative. It is based on the multicriteria method called Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). In the second part of the model, the input parameters will be: the global mark for each alternative we have calculated before and the distance between potential candidates. As a result of this part, the model will select the recommended collection points according to the criteria defined before. We can conclude that this model helps managers in the decision of locating/ modifying collection points in two ways: to add new collection points to a reverse logistics network that needs more points or to delete collection points from a network that has more points than those recommended. © Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2011.