Analysing reusable and disposable containers costs in food catering supply chain networks using optimization

Nowadays, strategies to minimize environmental impacts throughout food supply chains (FSC) are hotspots for academics and practitioners. A relevant portion of such impact results from food primary and secondary packaging. Food Catering Supply Chain (FCSC), made of multi-stage logistic networks, represents a challenging scenario for minimizing packaging disposal. Indeed, the booming widespread of reusable plastic containers (RPCs) in the FSC suggests the adoption of such containers to foster reuse and prevent material waste with respect to disposables. This paper explores the application of RPCs in the context of FCSC by proposing a MILP model that aids supplier and package choices considering the reusable package-pooler and the catering system networks. This model minimizes operational and logistic costs whilst optimizing the packaged product’s flows. A case study provides the model’s validation and offers insights for future research investigations. Results show that increasing the numbers of supply chain actors and the size of the logistic network make the adoption of RPCs economically convenient.