LogiCE: Logistics and the Circular Economy

There is a significant interest in the transition to a more circular economy. The field of logistics has the knowledge and tools to be a key enabler in this important transition. There’s a lot of expertise related to closed-loop supply chains, reverse logistics, supply chain coordination and collaboration, service logistics, as well as concepts like logistics control towers. This expertise needs to be utilised more to support and develop new business models in the circular economy.

The research program LogiCE (community Logistics in the Circular Economy) aimed to support the transition to a more circular economy by valorising logistics knowledge in an active collaboration with companies, governments, and scientific institutions. This was realised in a wide range of cases that were studied by students, discussed in thematic workshops, and developed in co-creation sessions with different supply chain actors. Combined with an inventory of the state-of-the-art research, this also resulted in a knowledge agenda (see publications listed below).

In addition to the many case-specific insights, the project also resulted in the identification of three main challenges that were common across many cases.

1. whether the logistics network supporting the circular business should be centralised or decentralised,
2. whether the circular business should focus on selling a product or a service,
3. whether the circular business should aim at a coordinating role with regards to logistics, or aim for a more collaborative process with other supply chain actors.

For each of these challenges, additional considerations and examples are discussed and further research opportunities identified.

A Dutch report resulting from the project provides further detail on these challenges (Akkerman et al., 2019). For an international audience, part of these results were also written up in an academic book chapter (Beames et al., 2021).