Analysis of external barriers to remanufacturing using grey-DEMATEL approach: An Indian perspective

With industrialization and growth of population, implementation of sustainable technologies and environment protection has received a lot of attention. Remanufacturing is one of the sustainable technologies that provide environmental, economic and social benefits. Remanufacturing is “a comprehensive and rigorous industrial process by which a previously sold, worn, or non-functional product or component is returned to a “like-new” or “better-than-new” condition and warranted in performance level and quality” (RIC, 2013). This research study aims to identify and evaluate external barriers to remanufacturing in Indian electronic waste (e-waste) sector. We applied grey-DEMATEL (Decision Making Trial and Evaluation Laboratory) approach to analyze external barriers to remanufacturing. The results indicate lack of channels to collect used products and customer unwillingness to return the products to be the most prominent barriers. Further, the results also depict uncertainty in quantity and timing of returned products to be the major causal barriers. The findings provide insights and recommendations for policy planners involved in policy making to boost remanufacturing in India. Primarily, government needs to bring awareness to customers regarding benefits of returning the used products and benefits of using remanufactured products through awareness campaigns, so that consumers also take initiative to protect environment. Channels to collects used products from customers also need to be developed.