Optimal Production Strategies in Closed-Loop Supply Chains under Carbon Policies and Diverse Recovery Modes

Abstract

Addressing manufacturers’ persistently low efficiency in collecting and reusing post-consumer returns, this study develops a closed-loop supply chain (CLSC) model composed of one manufacturer and one recycler under a government-mandated deposit–refund scheme for new products. A take-back contract governing post-consumer returns recovery is explicitly embedded in the model, and numerical simulations are employed to examine how government policies and the manufacturer’s production strategies jointly affect the supply chain. The results show that, by leveraging this take-back contract with consumers and expanding the production scale of remanufactured goods, the manufacturer can significantly raise the remanufacturing yield from post-consumer returns. When both the carbon price per ton and the government deposit are relatively high, this strategy accelerates the deposit-refund cycle and increases the manufacturer’s total profit through enlarged scale effects.