The importance of Supply Chain Management (SCM) has increased over the years. This paper reviews the evolution of SCM. Since, SCM is still evolving as a discipline, there is sufficient scope to study the interrelationships between various stakeholders, stages etc. The inclusion of reverse flow of materials and information has become a necessity of modern-day SCM, giving rise to Reverse Supply Chain Management (RSCM). The scope of RSCM is wide. Municipal solid waste collection is a special case of RSCM. Reverse Logistics (RL) is of special interest as most of the challenges faced in RSCM are directly influencing it, and the overall performance of supply chain is in turn influenced by RL. In this paper, the authors propose a theoretical framework based on earlier studies in the area of SCM to further explore the relationships between various factors involved in waste collection system.

Supply chain is a sum total of activities involved in converting raw materials into useful products and delivering them to end consumers. It includes primary activities like mining, fishing, agriculture to tertiary services like transportation, legal advice, etc. As a result supply chain is a complex web of interrelations between companies, communities and countries. The latest addition is climate. This has increased the importance of Supply Chain Management (SCM) over the years. SCM is still evolving as a discipline and there is sufficient scope to study the interrelationships between various stakeholders, stages, etc.

Today, societies are much concerned about preserving the ecology for future generations, and how to reduce, reuse and recycle has become important. The networks which transported the products towards consumers are being used to collect end of life products and used products for reuse or for proper disposal. This reverse flow of materials is sometimes referred to as reverse supply chain. The inclusion of reverse flow of materials and information has become a necessity of modern day SCM, giving rise to Reverse Supply Chain Management (RSCM). The scope of RSCM is wide. Municipal solid waste collection is a special case of RSCM. Reverse Logistics (RL) is of special interest as most of the challenges faced in RSCM are directly influencing it, and the overall performance of supply chain is in turn influenced by RL. There are many challenges involved in designing and developing integrated supply chains.

Supply Chain Management Journal, Supply Chain Management (SCM), Reverse Logistics (RL) , Reverse Supply Chain Management (RSCM), Grounded Theory (GT), Theoretical Framework Application, Reverse Supply Chain, Waste Management.