Optimization of reverse logistics network for end-of-life vehicles: A Shanghai case study

With the surge in car ownership, the end-of-life vehicles recycling market has shown enormous development potential. As the reverse logistics network for recycling end-of-life vehicles suffers from high operating costs and low recycling rates, there is an urgent need to upgrade the actual recycling measures for end-of-life vehicles to an operable level. This article first uses the OGM (1, N) model to predict the number of end-of-life vehicles in the coming years. At the same time, a reverse logistics network model with the second-hand car market as the recycling centre was constructed with the goal of minimizing the total cost of the end-of-life vehicles reverse logistics network. The network model was simulated using mixed integer programming (MILP), and the optimal solution was solved through LINGO 12 programming. Through an example analysis of Shanghai, it is found that the market of end-of-life vehicles will embrace growth, and it is verified that the optimized reverse logistics network can effectively reduce the operation cost and logistics cost of recycling centres, and can effectively improve the actual recycling rate of end-of-life vehicles. Finally, the optimized site selection results are obtained, and a specific traffic distribution scheme is proposed, which is crucial for promoting cars that meet scrap standards to be recycled through formal channels and reducing logistics costs for recycling enterprises.