A Multi-criteria Decision Model For EOL Computers in Reverse Logistics

With obsolescence rates on the rise the question as to what the user ultimately does with the end-of-life (EOL) product becomes an issue that has both environmental and economic implication. An important concern in EOL management for electronic products is to connect the equipment owners with potential buyers who may be interested in their EOL items, whether for reuse, component retrieval or material recovery. There is an estimate that the total obsolete computers originating from government offices, business houses, industries and household is of the order of 2.5 million numbers per year. Manufacturers and assemblers in a single calendar year are estimated to produce around 1500 tons of electronic scrap. One of the important problems faced by the top management in the computer hardware industries is the evaluation of various alternatives for EOL computers. The paper aims at linking the various issues of the reverse logistics in a single systematic framework for the selection of an alternative for the reverse logistics operations for EOL computers. The utility of the Analytic network process (ANP) in integrating both quantitative as well as the qualitative characteristics and using C++ as the platform for arriving at the best possible solution proves to be more realistic and accurate.