Designing an Intelligent Supply Chain for E-Waste Recycling in the Renewable Energy Sector: Applying Advanced Optimization Algorithms to Enable Circular Economy in Solar Panel and Wind Turbine Management
摘要
Renewable energy sources, solar panels or wind turbines produce large volumes of electronic waste (e-waste) when their lifecycle ends. Incorrect recycling of this e-waste results to severe environmental and economic issues brought about by toxic materials and unproductive recycling techniques. The e-waste management process in the renewable energy sector is now disunified, unfocused, and uncoordinated without data exchange in real-time. These constraints form obstacles to the optimization and sustainability of recycling supply chain. This paper fills these gaps by introducing a smart supply chain model that is composed using as much as possible optimization algorithms and artificial intelligence (AI) functions to ameliorate solar panels and wind turbines e-waste recycling. The primary implication of this study is introducing a detailed, data-based framework that facilitates the principles of circulareconomy by implementing closed-loop material cycles and by seeing as much as possible of the resource back to circulation. The mix of qualitative supply chain mapping with quantitative mathematical optimization as a mixed-method is solved using metaheuristic algorithms. Sensors based on IoT and AI-based sorting enhance data collection and decision-making, and vehicle routing plus inventory management is optimized to minimize cost and scale the environmental harm. Findings indicate a 75% recycling efficiency, 30% increase in collection levels, 15% decrease in cost of operations and a 20% loss in CO2 emissions over pre-conditions. Such results indicate the applicability of the model in complementing sustainable and cost friendly recycling of e-waste within the renewable energy industry.