Using a Circular Economy and Supply Chain as a Framework for Remanufactured Products in the Rubber Recycling Industry

Abstract

The use of a circular economy (CE) in a supply chain is conducive to remanufacturing. It can not only make the supply chain innovative but can also further ease resource consumption and lower pollution, thereby reducing carbon emissions. However, most current research remains focused on the concept of integrating circular economy supply chains (CESCs); few studies have carried out practical research in industry, and research addressing issues regarding the rubber recycling industry is even rarer. Therefore, this study refined the existing framework by screening out key factors that a CESC applies to remanufacturing products. This study conducted an expert questionnaire survey using the FDM to select key factors. Since the 30 respondents selected for this study are all experts in related fields, the reliability and stability of the method and results can be ensured. Meanwhile, this study adopted the fuzzy DEMATEL method to rank the importance of the five selected aspects and nineteen criteria and clarified cause-and-effect relationships between the criteria. The results show that important aspects, including “the circular business model” and “enhancing the resource value in the supply chain”, are both classified as cause groups; there are four main criteria that need to be highlighted, namely, “optimizing the production process”, “effectively tracking and recycling products”, “redesigning remanufactured rubber products”, and “improving resource efficiency”. Therefore, when related industries build CESCs to manufacture remanufactured products, these criteria need to be considered first. This study combined a CESC with remanufactured products, constructed a new framework to expand the related literature, and further analyzed the rubber industry and the underlying rubber recycling industry. Accordingly, related industries can refer to the new framework and key factors to develop production strategies for remanufactured products when implementing a CESC.