Case Study of Cooperative Transport in Reverse Logistics for Efficient Material Recycling in Japan

The costs required for transportation in the process of waste recycling are very high and become a serious bottleneck for promoting recycling. From the characteristics of reverse logistics for waste transportation, cooperative transport is expected to be an effective way for improving transport efficiency. However, cooperative transport is barely implemented in Japan in reverse logistics. This paper examines two practical cases concerning the practice or intention to implement cooperative logistics in Japan, finds out the factors that hinder or promote cooperative transport through interviews with relative parties, and finally proposes effective approaches for promoting cooperative transport in reverse logistics.