How Recycled Grade is Economical? An Application of MILP and Evolutionary Algorithms in Intermodal Networks Under Uncertain Demand

This study seeks to plan and evaluate the cost of the logistics in manufacturing tetra duplex board using prime grade and recycled materials. The real-world data for this study is obtained from one of the largest paper and board industries in Asia. The bi-objective problem is formulated by developing a mixed integer linear programming (MILP) model considering the constraints related to raw material supplies, processing, and storage. The metaheuristic optimization techniques are applied based on the concept of epsilon dominance to balance the conflicting objectives to counter the complex problem in the real world of transportation for the ease of the decision-makers to make the best-informed decisions in the selection of raw material. The investigation results indicate that the cost of prime-grade material in the tetra duplex board supply chain is 71 percent higher than recycled fiber. Furthermore, this study can be extended by evaluating the environmental aspects of prime and recycled-grade transportation. Moreover, the logistics of the prime grade can further be narrowed down by investigating it in various modes of transportation such as highways, waterways, rail, and air.