Reusable containers within reverse logistic context

Due to economic and environmental constraints, many organizations have started to ship their products in reusable containers such as plastic pallets, boxes and crates. Minimizing the total flow cost arising from reusable containers is a major problem for these organizations. In this paper we will focus on the modeling of this problem as a network flow, and the proposal of an appropriate resolution method. This resolution method will allow us to better understand the system behavior and can be an important tool for studying related problems, such as dimensioning and purchasing policy.