A framework and tool for designing cost-effective, resilient, and circular net-zero supply chains under uncertainty with an application to multilayer plastic films

Nazemi, F., Hanes, R., Desineedi, U.M.S., Sab, A.S.K., Mukkamala, S., Mulyana, R., Castro, J., Dooley, K., Basile, G., Stephanopoulos, G., Hyche, T., Kujur, A., Fath, B. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9440-6842, & Bakshi, B.R. (2026). A framework and tool for designing cost-effective, resilient, and circular net-zero supply chains under uncertainty with an application to multilayer plastic films. Computers & Chemical Engineering 213 e109766. 10.1016/j.compchemeng.2026.109766.

Full text not available from this repository.

Abstract

While 55% of Fortune 500 companies have committed to achieving net-zero emissions and/or zero-waste operations by 2035, only 2% are currently on track, revealing a critical gap between ambition and action. Designing supply chains that reduce both emissions and waste is a complex non-intuitive, multi-objective challenge, compounded by the high costs of new technologies and the need for resilient, profitable solutions. This paper aims to address this challenge by presenting a generic framework and multi-objective optimization formulation for designing cost-effective, circular, and resilient supply chains under uncertainty, implemented through a user-friendly decision-support tool with intuitive data visualization capabilities, enabling communication of results to both technical and non-technical stakeholders. We demonstrate the application of this framework in the context of multilayer plastic films (barrier films), which are widely used in food packaging and composite materials. The model quantifies trade-offs across three objectives: minimizing global warming potential, maximizing circularity, and minimizing cost. A key contribution of this work is the explicit modeling of technological resilience, the ability of supply chains to maintain function under disruption. In the cost-minimization case, the resilience constraint makes the design approximately three times more expensive in the short-term metric, but shifts the system from relying on a single recovery pathway to a portfolio of four recovery pathways, improving the robustness of the optimization solution under uncertainty. Finally, we introduce TranZero, a decision-support tool that integrates material flow analysis, hotspot identification, and optimization-based scenario planning to support net-zero and circularity decisions.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Multi-objective optimization; Supply chain resilience; Decision-support tool; Circular economy; Decarbonization; Uncertainty modeling
Research Programs:	Advancing Systems Analysis (ASA) Advancing Systems Analysis (ASA) > Systemic Risk and Resilience (SYRR)
Depositing User:	Luke Kirwan
Date Deposited:	03 Jul 2026 08:48
Last Modified:	03 Jul 2026 08:48
URI:	https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/21704

Actions (login required)

View Item