to closed-loop supply chains -- Production closed-loop supply chains -- Reverse logistics in a pharmaceutical company: the Schering case -- Reverse logistics in an electronics company: the NEC-Cl case -- Distribution closed-loop supply chains -- The chip in crate: the Heineken case -- Recovery and reuse of maritime containers: the Blue Container Line case -- Empty container reposition: the port of Rotterdam case -- Commercial returns closed-loop supply chains -- Commercial returns of sun-protection products: the L’Oréal France case -- Commercial returns of printers: the HP case -- Commercial returns in a mail order company: the Wehkamp case -- Repair and replacement closed-loop supply chains -- The repair of electronic equipment: the OMRON case -- Tire recovery: the RetreadCo case -- The closed-loop supply chain of service parts: the Whirlpool case -- End-of-use closed-loop supply chains -- End-of-lease asset recovery: the Océ case -- Cellular telephone reuse: the ReCellular Inc. case -- Recovery of car engines: the Mercedes-Benz case -- End-of-life closed-loop supply chains -- Recovering end-of-life large white goods: the Dutch initiative -- End-of-life tire recovery: the Thessaloniki initiative -- Conclusions on closed-loop supply chains -- Future developments in managing closed-loop supply chains.

The increasing number of returns of products and the items used for their distribution has become an important topic for many companies all over the world due to increasing competition and environmental legislation. Closed-Loop Supply Chains (CLSC) may offer companies a unique opportunity to improve their profits on the one hand and to serve societal responsibility on the other hand. The management of CLSC differs in a number of ways from managing supply chains in general. The book gives insight in these differences and how these differences may be dealt with in practice, by offering a concrete framework, introducing the different aspects related to CLSC (technical, organisational, planning and control, information, environmental and business economic) and their mutual relations, in a systematic logical way as well as cases clustered according to the inputs for a CLSC, like commercial returns, end-of-life returns, where for each case attention is paid to all the above mentioned aspects. The framework and especially the cases from successful companies offer the reader an invaluable help to build up and improve CLSC.