5. Financial flows and costs

Financial flows are easier to model than to estimate. Very few companies have already set up this kind of structure (HP, IBM, Lexmark and a few automakers like VAG). As this is a very recent concept, and the competitive impact is very significant, the estimated costs of reverse logistics are very confidential. Only a few ratios have been estimated by researchers who have studied the subject, but these are only approximations.

In our case, however, we can easily determine the various financial flows involved. As we can see from the diagram in figure 7 , these are numerous and complex. Several players are involved in the chain, generating just as many...