A mixed integer linear programming for medical waste reverse logistics network design

The medical waste management is of great importance due to its potential environmental hazards and public health risks. Manufacturers have to collect the medical waste and control its recovery or disposal. Medical waste recovery, which encompasses reuse, remanufacturing and materials recycling, requires a specially structured reverse logistic network in order to collect medical waste efficiently. This paper has attempted to apply the basic theories of reverse logistics to improve the effect of medical waste management. We presents a mixed integer linear programming model of reverse logistics networks for returned medical waste. The efficiency and practicability of the proposed model is validated by an application to an illustrative example dealing with medical waste returned from some hospitals to a given medical materials producer.