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IFAC PapersOnLine 55-10 (2022) 3148–3153
Designing reverse logistics network for a case study of home-care health medical
Designing
devicereverse logistics network
waste management: for a case study
Implications of home-care health medical
Designing reverse logistics network for a casefor Industry
study 4.0 supply
of home-care chains
health medical
device waste management:
Designing Implications for Industry 4.0 supply chains
devicereverse logistics network
waste management: for a casefor
Implications study of home-care
Industry health
4.0 supply medical
chains
device waste management: Implications for Industry 4.0 supply chains
Kubra Sar*, Pezhman Ghadimi**
Kubra Sar*, Pezhman Ghadimi**
* Laboratory for Advanced Manufacturing Simulation Kubra Sar*, and Robotics,
PezhmanSchool Ghadimi** of Mechanical & Materials Engineering, University
* Laboratory
College Dublin, forBelfield,
Advanced Manufacturing
Dublin 4, Ireland Simulation and Robotics,
PezhmanSchool
Kubrakubra.sar@ucdconnect.ie)
(e-mail: Sar*, Ghadimi** of Mechanical & Materials Engineering, University
*College
Laboratory
Dublin, forBelfield,
Advanced Manufacturing
Dublin 4, Ireland Simulation and Robotics, School of Mechanical & Materials Engineering, University
(e-mail: kubra.sar@ucdconnect.ie)
* Laboratory
** Laboratory
College Dublin, forforAdvanced
Advanced
Belfield, Manufacturing
Dublin 4, Ireland Simulation
Manufacturing and Robotics,
Simulation
(e-mail: School School
and Robotics,
kubra.sar@ucdconnect.ie) of Mechanical & Materials
of Mechanical & Engineering,
Materials Engineering,University
** Laboratory
College
University Dublin,
College for Advanced
Belfield,
Dublin, Dublin Manufacturing
Belfield,4, Ireland
Dublin (e-mail: Simulation
4, Ireland andpezhman.ghadimi@ucd.ie)
Robotics, School of Mechanical & Materials Engineering,
kubra.sar@ucdconnect.ie)
(e-mail:
** Laboratory
University College forDublin,
Advanced Manufacturing
Belfield, Dublin 4, Ireland Simulation(e-mail:andpezhman.ghadimi@ucd.ie)
Robotics, School of Mechanical & Materials Engineering,
** Laboratory
University College forDublin,
Advanced Manufacturing
Belfield, Dublin 4, Simulation
Ireland (e-mail:andpezhman.ghadimi@ucd.ie)
Robotics, School of Mechanical & Materials Engineering,
Abstract: This study
University College Dublin,presents a reverse
Belfield, Dublinlogistics
4, Ireland network
(e-mail:design (RLND) model for medical product waste management
pezhman.ghadimi@ucd.ie)
Abstract:
generated as Thispartstudy
of home presents
health a reverse logisticsThe
care operation. network
aim ofdesign (RLND)
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Abstract: Thispart study
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The aim ofdesign
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Abstract: as
generated This study presents a reverse logisticsThe networkofdesign (RLND) model fora medical product waste management
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changing maximizes
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developed usingmodelPyomo was validated
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customers
a randomly in the networksmall
generated and their
dataset changing
based ondemands.
a case The
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in home care
Copyright
Keywords: © health
2022
logistics, Themanagement
Authors.
real-time, sector
This
network,is anusing Pyomo
openmodel
modeling access optimization
article
approach, under solver
the
optimizationCC package. license
BY-NC-ND
efficiency
in home care and applicability
health management of the developed
sector using Pyomo was validated
optimization by a randomly
solver package.generated small dataset based on a case study
(https://creativecommons.org
Keywords:
in home care logistics, real-time,/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)
health management network, modeling
sector using Pyomo approach, optimization
optimization solver package.
Keywords: logistics, real-time, network, modeling approach, optimization
Keywords: logistics, real-time, network, modeling approach, optimization
(Hashemi, 2021). The advent of sustainability and circular
1. INTRODUCTION (Hashemi, 2021). Theincreased advent ofpublic sustainability and and circular
economy principles, awareness, the
1. INTRODUCTION (Hashemi, 2021).ofThe advent ofpublic
sustainability and and circular
Home Health Care (HHC) is medical assistance provided to economy
1. INTRODUCTION implementation
(Hashemi,
principles, new
2021). Theincreased
increased
regulations
advent ofpublic
to awareness,
waste management,
sustainability and and
the
circular
Home
patientsHealthat home Carefor (HHC) isrehabilitation,
medical assistance
1.theirINTRODUCTION such asprovided
obtaining economy
to implementation principles,
have all contributed of new to the regulations
RLs process to awareness,
waste
becomingmanagement,
a morethe
Home Health Care (HHC) is medical assistance provided to economy
implementation principles,of new increased
regulationspublic to awareness,
waste and
management, the
patients at home for their rehabilitation, such as obtaining have
attractiveall
biological samples, delivering medical drugs and equipment, implementation of new regulations to waste management, contributed
research field to the RLs
(Mathiyazhagan process et becoming
al., 2020). a
The more
RLs
Home Health
patients at homeCarefor (HHC)
their isrehabilitation,
medical assistance such asprovided
obtaining to attractive
have all contributed to the RLs process becoming a more
biological
and collecting samples,
medical delivering
waste medical
(Liu, Xiedrugs and and equipment,
Garaix, 2014). process is research field (Mathiyazhagan
a comprehensive et al., 2020).
strategy that includes tasksThe such RLs
as
patients at samples,
home fordelivering
their rehabilitation, such asequipment,
obtaining process have all contributed to(Mathiyazhagan
the RLs process becoming a more
biological
and
These collecting
activitiesmedicaldemonstrate wastethat medical
(Liu,theXie drugs
HHC and
andprocess
Garaix, 2014). attractive
includes collection, is research
a sorting, field
comprehensive recovery, strategy
and that et al.,
includes
redistribution 2020).
tasks The
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(Sangwan, RLs
as
biological samples, delivering medical drugs and equipment, attractive
process research field (Mathiyazhagan et al., 2020). The RLs
and
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logisticsmedical
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operations wastethat (Liu,theXie
(Decerle etand
HHC Garaix,
process
al., 2014).
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comprehensive
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required and that includes
thesetasks
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(Sangwan,
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in
and
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sorting,was
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complete
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Logistics
RLND
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that
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model
which has
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constraints example,
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such routing bi-objective
time long-term
problem, collection plans such
facilities, as deciding
recycling plants, locations and capacity
and remanufacturing of
that arise during the HHC process. For example, a bi-objective Design (RLND) research area was revealed. RLND presents
window, caregiver scheduling, time and service cost, route, long-term plans such as deciding the locations and capacity of
model
which has
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account for the
constraints caregiver
such routing
as problem,
patient's time long-term
collection
centers (Lee plans
and such
facilities,
Dong, as deciding
recycling
2009). On the
plants,
the locations
and
other and capacity
remanufacturing
hand, the dynamic
of
model has
which takes beenintodeveloped
account for the caregiver
constraints such routing
as problem,
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time centers (Leefacilities,
and causes
Dong, recycling
2009). Onplants,
the other andhand,remanufacturing
the dynamic
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balance scheduling,
(Goodarzian, time and
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and cost, route,
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which takes
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caregiver scheduling, constraints
time andsuch as patient's
service cost, route, collection
time centers (Lee facilities,
and Dong, recycling
2009). On plants,
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the dynamic
and
2021).workAlso,balance
Liu, Xie(Goodarzian,
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Fathollahi-Fard, validitystructure
(Jedermann
centers structure
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causes these
et al.,
Dong, 2009).
long-term
2008). In thisdecisions
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to lose their
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and
2021). work
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Liu, Xie
process, (Goodarzian,
which and involves
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processes network(Jedermann
models are et al.,
needed tolong-term
2008). In this
adapt to decisions
context,
the changes to lose
that their
multi-period will
and work
2021). Also,balance
Liu, (Goodarzian,
Xie and Garaix Abraham
(2013) and Fathollahi-Fard,
introduced the HHC market
validity structure
(Jedermann causeset these
al., long-term
2008). In this decisions
context, to lose their
multi-period
planning
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depots toprocesses occur in models the longareterm.
validity (Jedermann
needed
et
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adapt to Govindan,
In this
the changesPaam
context,
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multi-period
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2021). Also, Liu, Xie and involves
Garaix (2013) introducedprocesses
the HHC occur
planning
(delivering
homes, deliveryprocess, which
drugs/medical
of special three
from different
devicesproducts
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patients'to network
Abtahiin(2016)
network
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models
areterm.
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Paam will
and
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transportation devices
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objective (2016)RLND presented
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multi-echelon Govindan,
multi-period Paam and
multi-
patients, and transportation of blood samples
a lab.). They proposed a mathematical model to determine the syringe from patients to objective RLND model to determine
and needle waste collection centers. Although multi- the sites of medical
homes, delivery of special medical products from a hospital to Abtahi
objective (2016)RLND presented
model the
to multi-echelon
determine the multi-period
sites of multi-
medical
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daily and proposed
lab.). routing
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plan while of blood samples
a mathematical
considering modelthe to from patients
determine
time window to syringe
the period systemsand needle wastetime-dependent
track collection centers. Although
changes and multi-
make
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lab.). routing
They transportation aweeklyof blood samples
mathematical from patientsthe objectiveand
to syringe RLND
needle model
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multi-
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and patient's demand model
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constraint and patient's
that the logistics of used weekly
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changes. Internet may access
of Things real-time
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dynamic decisions, tracknew time-dependent
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that
fromthe logistics
patients' homesof usedin this products
paper. and The services
term "reverse returned data
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constraint and patient's weekly demand in account. It isreturned
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is and each other
al., 2015).
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process that consists of collecting products
and their inclusion in processes such as remanufacturing, quality from customers Things tools to track the number of waste
collected throughout the RLs process. As a result, the products and their
services.
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Things 2015).
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The first various reasons is that mostly
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products that was Swami, created
2020).(Rajput
After the andreal-time
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capture Shankar with and
product (Alshamsi and Diabat, 2015). Product returns which trackedwas in real time, and aSingh,
dynamic supply chainShankar
framework
Thearise
cannotfrom
first
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(Wei, Ma and Liu, to the IoT
due 2021). the is accomplished,
data emerges. Various the needinessautomated of thetools,
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IoT is 2020).
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The second is the waste management
reintroduce the value found in wastes into production as a challenge. operations that Systems MAS is promising engineering thatmeet
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2405-8963
result of Copyright
the global © 2022 The Authors.
challenge This is resource
of natural an open access autonomous
article under
scarcity the CC BY-NC-NDagents in license
distinct . processes in complex systems to
Peer review under responsibility of International Federation of Automatic Control.
10.1016/j.ifacol.2022.10.213
 Kubra Sar et al. / IFAC PapersOnLine 55-10 (2022) 3148–3153
interact with one another in response to changing conditions
for the better data analysis (Jennings, 2001). For example,
Mishra, Kumar and Chan (2012) introduced a paper that the
MAS transformed the supply chain process consisting of
recycling, allocation, and distribution processes into an
integrated structure, allowing the entire system to adapt to
constraints data and demand. There are still certain research
gaps in the literature, despite the published RLs papers with
automated tools that is explained with examples from
literature. To the best of our knowledge, there is no research
work on real-time tracking of the customer locations in the
network, real-time tracking of collection centers capacity and
the data when consumers will drop off their product waste at
the collection centers. Furthermore, there are limited detailed
studies on how the system will respond to this important
instant data flow and update itself. This article reports the
initial results of an on-going research work aiming to create a
smart RLs network system by deploying real-time data
information about customer locations, product remaining
capacity, and collection centers capacities, using cloud
technologies. It is possible to establish the location of
collection centers based on real-time data, to monitor the
customer wastes who have just begun using the product, or to
notice probable address changes and structure the network
using any updated real-time data. This project major goal is to
streamline collection of home-care medical wastes collection,
similar to the wastes generated in hospitals, in order to reuse
the waste products and revive their economic values while also
preventing them from causing a health risk. To summarize, this
paper differs from previous RLND studies since it creates a
dynamic network framework by using real-time data to track
the number of active customers, the amount of waste they
generate, and the date they will bring this waste to the
collection center. Also, the Web Services tools, MAS and IoT
technology combination create value in terms of data and
system analysis in this paper.
The remainder of this paper is as follows: Section 2 provides a
detailed literature review. In Section 3, system description and
mathematical model are introduced. In Section 4, results are
presented and discussed. Future research opportunities are
given in Section 5 together with some concluding remarks.
2. LITERATURE REVIEW
The RLND process has been modeled from several
perspectives including multi-period RLND (where time has an
important role) and RLND with automated tools in order to
respond to instant market changes. This section presents a
literature review of the studies in these two categories: multi-
period RLND and automated tools based RLND papers.
2.1 Multi-Period Reverse Logistics Network Design
In the literature, existing RLND models which used to
originally develop for a long-time horizon started to design as
multi-period to monitor the system's behavior over time. For
example, Ko and Evans (2007) proposed a multi period Mixed
Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model for designing an
integrated network that takes into consideration the forward
and return networks at the same time. Lee and Dong (2009)
presented the multi-period logistics network design to cope
with uncertainties. The model consists of decision variables
3149
changes in real-time. Also, Lacomme, Rault and Sevaux
(2021) proposed using a Representational State Transfer
(REST) Application Programming Interface (API)-based web
service framework to construct a dynamic routing scheme. The
contribution of the paper is the interface design that enables
showing different routing plans based on changing real-time
that are the amount of forwarding transported product and the
returned waste, transportation links between nodes and facility
types to be constructed. Also, Alumur et al. (2012) examined
a multi-period RLND model to consider the prospect of future
network configuration adjustments to allow progressive
changes in network structure and facility capacity. Another
article is about the dynamic pricing approach that is based on
multi-period RLND outputs that are time dependent.
Keyvanshokooh et al. (2013) developed a dynamic pricing
strategy based on product quality uncertainty depending on
different time periods. Trochu, Chaabane and Ouhimmou
(2019) developed a multi-period RLs network to deal with
time-dependent dynamic location of supply sources for
demolition waste. Mishra and Singh (2020) proposed a
dynamic multi-period RLND model for the post-sale process
of warranty products in the multi-country company. The
current research project, where this conference article is
originated from, aims to create facilities that can scale up or
down in capacity as the amount of returned items changes. The
velocity of change in the global world, on the other hand, leads
decision-makers to make more precise decisions by
monitoring the movement of systems in real-time. To shed
light on some recent works in this area, the following section
reviews the literature on the integration automated tools and
RLs processes.
2.2 Reverse Logistics Network Design and Industry 4.0
Enabling Technologies
Multi-period RLND models, which were introduced to capture
time-dependent changes and allocate resources over time, are
now being replaced by Industry 4.0 assisted models such as
IoT technologies. Radio-frequency identification (RFID)
technology which performs tasks such as monitoring,
recording data and recognizing objects through radio waves is
the keystone of IoT smart systems (Jia et al., 2012). First of
all, RFID was integrated into Wal-Mart reverse logistics
procedures, and a new system for the recovery of electronic
wastes was created in 2003 (Paksoy et al., 2016). As another
example, Gu and Liu (2013) introduced that RFID technology
is started to apply in reverse logistics processes, which is used
for product tracking in forward logistics operations. Recently,
the number of studies on the application of IoT in RL processes
has risen. For example, Wei, Ma and Liu (2021) analyzed
customer dissatisfaction-induced product returns during the e-
commerce process in real time with IoT tools. Information
perception module, networking decision module and
information application modules are created to make RLs
decisions such as remanufacturing process and routing with
RFID technology. The mathematical module for logistics
optimization is linked to the networking decision module.
Xing et al. (2011) presented a novel system architecture that
included both RLs and IoT operations. This novel system is
able to update the End of Life (EoL) products flow between
the collection centers and the remanufacturing facility in real
3150 Kubra Sar et al. / IFAC PapersOnLine 55-10 (2022) 3148–3153
time, depending on the new orders from the customer. Thus,
responses to customer demand are flexible, and the
remanufacturing process works with maximum efficiency.
Zhou et al. (2018) presented a new RLs network framework
both adding new facilities to the existing network such as
collection centers and expanding the capacity of some existing
facilities based on scrap vehicle information received from the
IoT tools. The aim of the study is to develop a RLND that
maximizes profit by accounting for the logistics network fixed
and variable costs, as well as environmental-based external
expenses such as pollution cost. Garrido-Hidalgo et al. (2019)
proposed a structure that instantly monitors the inventory
levels of computer waste collected in smart bins with
Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE), RFID and Long-range wide-
area network (LoRaWAN) technologies. Liu, Zhang and
Wang (2018) designed an RLND for vehicle-logistics task
allocation with IoT technology. The aim of this study was to
ensure that logistics tasks are assigned to the appropriate
vehicles with minimum cost and the least amount of energy.
To the best of our knowledge, this dynamic task/vehicle
scheduling is the first study in the field of reverse logistics
utilizing Industry 4.0 enabling technologies. In addition,
Rajput and Singh (2021) has established a new concept
consisting of integrated Circular Economy and RLs process
using automated tools. The goal of this paper is to employ IoT
to monitor high-volatility processes and facilities, such as
manufacturing, warehouse, and market demand. The wastes
gathered in RLs process are classified as either disposal or
remanufacturing product, and the supply chain process is
updated on a regular basis incorporating with automated tools.
The real-time data-driven technology used in this study
interacts with production facility vehicles rather than
collection centers or logistics processes. Dev, Shankar and
Swami (2020) has proposed an Industry 4.0-based reverse
logistics supply chain framework that feeds the
remanufacturing process using stochastic reverse logistics
model outputs based on real-time data. The common goal of
the above reviewed previous studies was to make the
production processes dynamic by controlling the waste
products returned to the manufacturing company.
Furthermore, there are a few studies that use web services
platforms to construct dynamic visualizing routes. For
example, Santos, Coutinho-Rodrigues and Antunes (2011)
used a web-based spatial decision support system (wSDSS) to
create a multiple vehicle routing plan. The problem of
prohibited turns, one-way streets, vehicle capacity, and shift
time constraints has been tackled in the model using heuristic
and metaheuristic solution approaches. The system's operating
concept is as follows: data flows into an approximate solution
algorithm, which produces a solution that is displayed using
Google Maps. Another example is the following paper by
Lacomme, Rault and Sevaux (2021). It is presented a dynamic
REST-based API that adapts to changing market scenarios and
constraints. Within the same context of the papers from
literature, this paper is focused on RLs network architecture,
facility placements, and consumer circulation. The
contributions of this paper are characterized as follows:
 It is the first Industry 4.0 enabled RLND model to
deal with medical waste generated in home health
care services.
 It presents a social objective function with the aim of
maximizing collected medical waste from customer
homes.
3. SYSTEM AND PROBLEM DESCRIPTIONS
This section provides a summary of the current situation of the
case study as well as a detailed explanation of the suggested
mathematical model.
3.1 System description
This paper presents a problem related to a company that keeps
track of home case treatments of various patients with the
introduction of a waste management device. This company
provides smart boxes that can be used to store plastic waste
bins. Patients will be notified about their treatments using a
mobile app. After the medicine is received, wastes are thrown
in the device, signaling to the system that the patient has
completed his/her treatment. In the current system, the
manufacturer of the company collects these wastes through the
mail, disinfects the waste bins, and reuses them. A new
network design (see in Figure 1) has been developed that
allows patients to drop off the plastic waste bins of prior
prescription periods at collection centers. Patients who are able
to acquire their prescriptions from the pharmacy and mostly
have basic problems such as diabetes and blood pressure
problems are those profiles described in the case study. This
new network design, which works with real-time data, is
modeled in order to react to changes such as customers who
started receiving the service, giving up this service, could not
finish their treatment term for different reasons, or changing
their address. The aim of the network to guarantee that waste
bins are successfully returned to the manufacture, helping
them to reuse and minimize the use of raw materials. As a
prototype implementation, 80 customers in total and 16
possible collection locations have been generated. Some
additional assumptions are presented below to properly define
the problem:
 Customers have a willingness to take their waste to a
collection center, which may be 5 km away at most.
 If there are not any collection center within 5 km
radius of the customer node, they utilize the post
service option to send their waste to the manufacturer.
 All patients were able to acquire medications from
the pharmacy.
 Post service option cost is fixed.
 The date on which each customer's medical supplies
will be finished is automatically sent from the waste
management device.
 Each collection center has a capacity of up to 14
plastic waste bins.
 The cost of keeping the collection waste box in the
pharmacies is fixed and it is not considered since they
are equal.
 The budget allocated for post service has been limited
to ensure that only customers who do not have a
collection center around (mostly people living far
from the city) use the post service.
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3.2. Constraints
PRESCRIPTION
DATABASE Post Service Budget Limitation
∑𝑖𝑖€I 𝑃𝑃𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 . 𝐶𝐶𝑘𝑘 ≤ 𝑍𝑍 Ɐk€K (2)
CLOUD SYSTEM
This constraint allows post service, which is an expensive
service, to be used only by customers who are far from the
collection centres (mostly far from the city) within the post-
service budget limit.
Allocation Constraints
Customer Customer Customer Customer
∑𝑗𝑗€J 𝑋𝑋𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 ≤ 1 Ɐi€I (3)
Prescription
deadline ? ∑𝑘𝑘€K 𝑃𝑃𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + ∑𝑗𝑗€J 𝑋𝑋𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 ≤ 1 Ɐi€I (4)
Collection Center
Equation (3) ensures that the customer should be allocated to
YES Collection Center at most once collection center. Equation (4) ensures that a
Collection Center
customer cannot use the collection center option or the post
Are there any
NO collection
centers near the YES service at the same time.
house

Mail Service Maximum Distance Limitation

∑𝑗𝑗€J 𝑑𝑑𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 . 𝑋𝑋𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 ≤ 5 Ɐi€I (5)
Figure 1. Real-Time Reverse Logistics Network Design
Equation (5) indicates that customers would like to use one of
3.2 Problem description the collection centers within a 5 km distance. In other words,
it ensures that consumers are not assigned to a collection
The described reverse logistics network design case problem
facility that is too far away from their home
covered in detail in the previous section is formulated as a
Mixed Integer Linear Programming (MILP) model. The Capacity Constraints
notation of the mathematical model is given below.
∑𝑖𝑖€I 𝐴𝐴𝑖𝑖 . 𝑋𝑋𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 ≤ 𝑄𝑄𝑗𝑗 Ɐj€J (6)
Notations
Sets Equation (6) sets the limit collected waste amount so that it
I = Set of customers, indexed by i does not exceed the capacity of the collection bin placed to
J = Set of potential collection centers, indexed by j keep them in collection centers.
K = Set of post service, indexed by k
Parameters Other Constraints
Qj = Capacity of waste bin in each potential collection center j 𝑋𝑋𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 ≤ 𝑌𝑌𝑗𝑗 Ɐi€I, Ɐj€J (7)
Ai = Generated waste in customers node i 𝑋𝑋𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 ≥ 𝑍𝑍𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 Ɐi€I, Ɐj€J (8)
dij = Distance between customer node i € I and collection site
j€J Equation (7) and Equation (8) declare that only open collection
Ck = Cost of post service k centers are able to serve customers and only if there is an
Z= Maximum amount of post service budget assignment can there be waste flow between two locations,
respectively.
Decision Variables
Xij = 1 if customer i is served by potential collection site j; 0 if 𝑋𝑋𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 , 𝑌𝑌𝑗𝑗 , 𝑃𝑃𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 € {0,1}. (9)
not 𝑍𝑍𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 € 𝑅𝑅+ (10)
Zij= Flow of waste shipped from customer i to collection center
j Equation (9) and Equation (10) is about characteristics of
Yj = 1 if potential collection site j locates in network; 0 if not decision variables
Pi,k= 1 if customer i use mail-box option k; 0 if not 4. RESULT

3.1. Objective Function
Total collected waste maximization:
max Z= ∑𝑖𝑖€I ∑𝑗𝑗€J 𝐴𝐴𝑖𝑖 . 𝑋𝑋𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖 + ∑𝑖𝑖€I ∑𝑘𝑘€K 𝐴𝐴𝑖𝑖 . 𝑃𝑃𝑖𝑖𝑖𝑖
This objective function deals with the maximizing the
collected waste amount, which includes both accumulated in
collection centers and shipped via post-service to the
manufacturer.
The developed mathematical model was solved using Pyomo
optimization package based on active customers and locations
on any given date.The random data generated for customer
location is distributed based on case study city which is Dublin
(1) latitude and longitude. The locations of one of Dublin's
pharmacies with the most branches were used to build
collection centres’ data. The model output identifies the
candidate collection facilities in the optimal network design,
detailing active service, the potential waste volumes, and the
number of clients getting post-service service have been
3152 Kubra Sar et al. / IFAC PapersOnLine 55-10 (2022) 3148–3153
acquired. First of all, in the optimal network design, although
69 out of 80 customers are within driving distance of one of
the collection sites of logistics network, 11 customers had to
send their wastes to the manufacturer by postal service due to
their distance from the collection centers in the optimal
network. The rest of the customers were served by 11 different
pharmacies as collection points. Also, Figures 2 illustrates the
status of the network by providing the waste volume
information of the allocated collecting centers in the optimal
network based on the prototype randomly generated datasets.
In a real case problem, the customer data will be updated, and
the model will run in real-time with up-to-date data at the
beginning of each panning period. Changes in the number of
customers or the relocation of consumers to another location
may result in a new optimal network design, maximizing the
collected waste volume.
Figure 2. Active collection centers and their loads
In the optimal reverse logistics network, 11 out of the 16
candidate collection facilities are actively involved. It is
realized that there is a balanced distribution in facilities when
considering the capacity constraints of the collection centers at
the collection points and their distance with customers.
5. FUTURE RESEARCH OPPORTUNITIES AND
CONCLUSION
In this study, waste management was examined in a case study
offering a smart system service to follow prescriptions of
patients as part of a home health care service. In other words,
a solution to the reverse logistics problem of medical waste
collection in homes where home health care services are
provided is sought. The proposed RLND model ensures that
the largest number of customers are able to send of their
hazardous wastes to the manufacturer company through
collection centers (pharmacies). Although the used small data
set does not provide a complex network solution, future
research will provide an extended focus on designing a
dynamic real network with large data sets and metaheuristic
solution approaches. In addition, future works can solve this
model with a real-time vehicle routing model based on
dynamic RLND outputs. In future research work, the RLND
can be modeled in conjunction with a vehicle routing problem.
This hybrid model can consider the shortest travel distance
between the optimal customer locations, collection centers and
the manufacturer providing dynamic routing plans based on
real-time data. Some strategic decisions can be made
according to the outputs of Dynamic RLND and VRP models
such as (1) expanding the collection center's capacity (2)
introducing alternative collection center options, and (3)
inclusion of different medical wastes in the study.
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