Reverse Logistics Network Design for Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) in Emerging Market Economies: A Historical Case Study of Greater Shanghai, China

Abstract

The sustainable management of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) – also referred to as e-waste or e-scrap – is a major policy issue in emerging market economies like China. This study explores the initial phase of practical eco-innovation policy implementation, elucidating the foundational challenge of techno-organizational infrastructure development for environmentally sound WEEE recovery and disposal in China. A discrete mixed-integer linear programming model for WEEE reverse logistics network design is introduced and applied to the historical real-world case of Greater Shanghai. The computational results offer scenario-based insights into the cost-optimal determination of facility locations for regional WEEE treatment from a multi-staged network system perspective, illuminating underlying cost structures and the intricate contextual factors shaping location solutions. This facilitates the derivation of strategic locational recommendations for integrated network system design. The study concludes by pointing to societal challenges involved in practical eco-innovation policy enforcement toward achieving (more) holistically sustainable WEEE recovery and disposal in China.

Received: 15 April 2025 | Revised: 23 June 2025 | Accepted: 19 September 2025

Conflicts of Interest

The author declares that he has no conflicts of interest to this work.

Data Availability Statement

Data are available on request from the author upon reasonable request.

Author Contribution Statement

Steffen Wolfer: Conceptualization, Methodology, Software, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Resources, Data curation, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing, Visualization, Supervision, Project administration, Funding acquisition.