A systematic review of evolution, thematic domains, and future directions in reverse logistics

Unofficial AI-generated summary based on the public title and abstract. Not an official translation.

🔬研究者:A valuable map of the reverse logistics field, identifying research gaps and future directions for empirical and integrated studies.

🏢実務担当者:Provides a structured overview of reverse logistics domains, useful for designing sustainable and digitally enabled return flow operations.

🏛政策担当者:Offers insights into regulatory and environmental drivers that have shaped reverse logistics, informing policy on circular economy and waste management.

This study presents a literature review that tracks the historical development of reverse logistics research, identifying key theoretical advances, ongoing challenges, and critical gaps in both academic inquiry and practical applications. Using a structured content analysis approach, the review systematically gathers, assesses, and synthesizes relevant scholarly work to map the field's intellectual evolution over time. The results identify four major stages: 1. An initial focus on operational efficiency and return flows. 2. The rise of environmental and regulatory pressures as main drivers. 3. The strategic integration of RL into boader supply chain management frameworks. 4. A current shift toward circular economy principles and digital transformation. Based on this historical overview, the study organizes the literature into six main thematic areas: 1. Strategic and Organizational Design. 2. Network Design and Optimization. 3. Consumer Behavior and Disposition Decisions. 4. Sustainability, Circular Economy, and Environmental Performance. 5. Digitalization and Emerging Technologies. 6. Performance Measurement, Risk, and Decision Support Models. Each area is analyzed in terms of its theoretical development, predominant methods, and research gaps. By critically examining the scope and depth of contributions across these areas, the review highlights the growing interdisciplinary nature of reverse logistics and underscores the need for empirical validation, integrated models, and context-specific approaches. This work provides a comprehensive reference for researchers and practitioners aiming to develop and improve reverse logistics systems that are not only operationally effective but also environmentally sustainable, digitally advanced, and strategically aligned with evolving supply chain paradigms.

• semanticscholar https://doi.org/10.22201/fi.25940732e.2026.27.1.005first seen 2026-05-05 22:26:53