A causal sustainable evaluation of barriers to remanufacturing: an emerging economy perspective

Adverse environmental impacts and growing environmental awareness among customers have motivated industries to follow sustainable manufacturing practices. Remanufacturing, a sustainable manufacturing practice, plays a critical role in the circular economy and provides economic, environmental, and social benefits. Despite these benefits, remanufacturing practices are still in an embryonic, underutilized state in developing countries like India. Problems at organizational, technological, and operational levels restrict developing countries from embracing remanufacturing practices. The paper aims to develop a framework to recognize and evaluate the remanufacturing barriers in the Indian leather industry. Twenty barriers to remanufacturing practice were identified and evaluated based on experts' feedback and a literature survey. An integrated approach, comprising a fuzzy analytic hierarchy process (F-AHP) and fuzzy decision-making trial and evaluation laboratory (F-DEMATEL), was used to rank and reveal the barriers' interrelationships. A real-world implementation of the integrated approach is demonstrated. Findings reveal that the absence of effective government policy enforcement, lack of constructive publicity of "6R" products for the public, insufficient awareness of the necessity of recovering value from wastes, low financial assistance to the waste collectors, and weak business case are the top five major barriers that impact remanufacturing practice. The study theoretically advances the remanufacturing domain knowledge. It also recognizes that the application with any industrial sector would reduce the impact of such barriers and increase the feasibility of remanufacturing practices. Additionally, the framework used in this study will assist policymakers and industrial practitioners in emerging economies in implementing remanufacturing practices.