The importance of packaging waste recycling centers at reverse logistics centers at reverse logistics for sustainable devolopment and an assessment of the center selection by the AHP approach

Logistic sector is related to the increasing economical activities, globalism andthe easiness of transportation opportunities, and therefore it grows much in the lastyears. On the other hand, reverse logistics is one of the adopted supply chain processesand becomes more important because of economic and ecological conditions,administrative and social responsibilities, sustainable development, environmentprotection laws, and the aim of material and resource use. Wastes are, somehow, end products of the production and consumption processrespectively. Recycling is a term that means recyclable waste materials are processedwith various recycling methods and prepared to use in manufacturing as raw materials.Especially, used materials such as paper, glass, plastics and metals which are called'packaging waste' are revalued in favour of economic. In most of the countries, localauthorities are responsible for waste handling issues such as collection, transportationand disposal. In relation to waste management , the whole cycle of generation ofwastes, their storage, collection and transport, and their eventual treatment and disposalare taken into condsideration. In our country, the large majority of municipalities aresmall with very limited capacity , and face to some difficulties in delivering effectivelocal governance. As the rapid increase of the industrial activities and uncontrolledconsumption of natural resources cause environmental problems inevitably , the most ofthe companies are now interested in the activities that supports sustainableenvironment. Izmir, the third largest city in Turkey, consists of the metropolitan municipalityand thirty district municipalities. According to the proposals and thoughts taken fromthe authorities of metropolitan municipality and some companies, in the last chapter ofthis study, an application to choose an appropriate recycling center for packaging wastein Izmir city using the analytic hierarchy process is carried out. The software of ExpertChoice which supports AHP has provided data to be analyzed statistically and theresults have been given in detail. Keywords: AHP, Packaging Waste, Recycling, Izmir, Sustainable Development,Reverse Logistic