Assessing the economic and environmental performance of a closed-loop supply chain for waste tires: an industrial case study

Recovery strategies for end-of-life (EoL) and end-of-use (EoU) products, such as reuse, remanufacturing, and recycling, present opportunities to enhance profitability and lower emissions while fostering new business prospects. However, significant uncertainties and stochasticity affect the quantity and quality of returned waste tires, costs associated with used tires and the retreading process, and the selling prices driven by second-hand market dynamics. This paper investigates the economic and environmental performance of a closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) for waste tire retreading and recycling considering the impact of these uncertainties using a Monte Carlo simulation-based methodology. The proposed methodology is implemented on an industrial case study in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) for quantifying the impact of uncertainties involved in the CLSC for tire retreading and recycling large tires of the 12R24 type, which are extensively used by buses and trucks in the UAE. The findings reveal that for an average of 13,200 tires reaching their EoL, the processes of retreading and recycling yield an average profit of $ 487 K. Furthermore, these initiatives are expected to result in the reduction of an average of 1457 tons of CO2 emissions. A scenario analysis is conducted to evaluate the impact of improvements in key operational parameters on the CLSC performance. Consequently, all stakeholders engaged in tire retreading would benefit by reducing costs, generating higher profits, and reducing emissions while creating new business opportunities.