REVERSE LOGISTICS: ENVIRONMENTAL RESPONSIBILITY AND CORPORATE COMPETITIVENESS

Abstract

The Reverse Logistics emerges as an alternative to reduce the amount of discards and ensure the applicability of the most liberal return policies for products, promoting greater competitiveness companies that implement it, distinguishing itself from the traditional path reverse logistics products that run on distribution channels, ie the point of consumption by putting the source. This reverse flow is divided into Reverse Logistics of post-consumption, ecological perspective, and after-sales, strategic perspective. This article aims to discuss about the role, in the current scenario, the Reverse Logistics can play promoting business competitiveness and environmental responsibility. For this purpose were held bibliographical and documentary emphasizing the concept of reverse logistics, its characteristics, the driving forces behind and barriers to its implementation in companies. It appears that this is an alternative within a system that aim to maximize profits for the companies to reduce the damage they cause to the environment by reusing components in the production process, without compromising their productivity, while gain market niches with efficiency in logistics return of the products when necessary.