A Closed-loop Supply Chain Network Design Problem in Copper Industry

Abstract

Undoubtedly, metals are the basis of the sustainable development of all human societies. In the last century, the role of copper, as the third most widely used metal, after steel and aluminum, has been crucial. Copper is a recyclable metal. It has many applications such as industrial electricity, plumping, wiring, electronic equipment, transportation, and infrastructure. Today, with the growth of the industry in societies, the demand for copper has increased. This motivated us to study its supply chain network design firstly. To the best of our knowledge, there is no research reported about copper supply chain network design. This paper aims to maximize the profit of the copper closed-loop supply chain. We formulate this network design problem as a Mixed Integer Programming model. The model is considered as single-objective and multi-product. The exact solution of the model is found by using GAMS software. Sensitivity analysis results provide useful results that managers can use them in decisions.