Redesign of a recycling system for LPG-tanks

This paper presents a case study that is performed at Auto Recycling Nederland (ARN), the organization for end-of-life vehicle recycling in the Netherlands. End-of-life vehicle recycling starts with the removal of dangerous materials, such as oil, fuel and LPG-tanks (Liquefied Petrol Gas). We consider the problem of redesigning the recycling system for LPG-tanks. Like in many reverse logistics network design questions, uncertainty in system behavior and difficulty in gathering reliable data are important characteristics of our case. Especially while the total costs consist for almost 50% of transportation costs, reliable transportation costs estimations are crucial. We use a vehicle routing model to solve this data problem and feed the estimations into a mathematical programming model. The system uncertainty is tackled with sensitivity analysis.