Sustainable circular supplier selection: A novel hybrid approach

Devika Kannan; Hassan Mina; Saeede Nosrati-Abarghooee; Ghasem Khosrojerdi

doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137936

Sustainable circular supplier selection: A novel hybrid approach

Sci Total Environ. 2020 Jun 20:722:137936. doi: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137936. Epub 2020 Mar 14.

Authors

Devika Kannan¹, Hassan Mina², Saeede Nosrati-Abarghooee², Ghasem Khosrojerdi³

Affiliations

¹ Center for Sustainable Supply Chain Engineering, Department of Technology and Innovation, University of Southern Denmark, Odense M, Denmark. Electronic address: deka@iti.sdu.dk.
² School of Industrial Engineering, College of Engineering, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran.
³ Faculty of Industrial and Systems Engineering, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran.

PMID: 32213433
DOI: 10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.137936

Abstract

Circular supplier selection is the process of selecting suppliers in a closed-loop supply chain. Sustainable circular supplier selection addresses the social and environmental concerns in circular supplier selection problems. In this paper, for the first time, we combine the fuzzy best-worst method and the interval VIKOR technique to evaluate and prioritize sustainable suppliers in circular supply chains. The evaluation criteria are classified into three categories of economic, social, and circular factors extracted based on the domain expert's opinions. The fuzzy best-worst method is used to weigh the criteria, and the interval VIKOR technique is applied to evaluate the suppliers in the presence of uncertainty. This study contributes to the sustainable development goals (SDG's) of providing Decent Work and Economic Growth (SDG 8) and Responsible Consumption and Production (SDG 12). The proposed method is then used to evaluate six suppliers in the wire-and-cable industry in Iran. The results obtained from the implementation of the proposed approach and its sensitivity analysis indicate the applicability and efficiency of the proposed approach.

Keywords: Best-worst method; Circular supply chain; Fuzzy theory; Sustainable circular supplier selection; Sustainable development goals (SDG's); VIKOR method.