Modelling the Barriers to Reverse Logistics for Sustainable Supply Chains: A Combined ISM and MICMAC Analysis Approach

Reverse Logistics (RL) plays a fundamental role in supply by addressing returns, undelivered or damaged products, exchanges, and environmental concerns, directly contributing to more sustainable supply chain practices. Although firms recognize the importance and benefits of this concept, their supply chain remains focused on direct logistics, often overlooking RL’s potential to enhance sustainability performance. The aim of this article is to analyse the interaction between the barriers that challenge or prevent the implementation of RL in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs). First, a literature review identified 22 barriers to developing RL in SMEs. Then, through experts’ opinions gathered in a Focus Group (FG), an Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) model was used to understand the hierarchy relations between barriers, and a Matrix Cross Impact Matrix Multiplication (MICMAC) analysis was carried out to aggregate the barriers in four categories according to their influencing power and dependence. Applying the methodology to the Portuguese case resulted in an ISM model with seven hierarchical levels and a MICMAC diagram without dependent barriers. Moreover, six key barriers emerged, namely, Lack of adequate organizational structure and support for RL practices, Lack of corporate social responsibility, Complexity of the operation, Lack of shared understanding of best practices, Difficulty with members of the supply chain, and Lack of support from supply chain players, which proved to be the most critical as they are positioned at the highest hierarchical levels of the ISM model and fall within the independent variable quadrant of the MICMAC analysis, thus revealing a strong driving power over the other barriers. The findings highlight that overcoming these barriers is crucial for SMEs to unlock the full sustainability potential of RL and transition towards supply chain models that are greener through a reduced carbon footprint, improved resource efficiency, and the adoption of circular economy practices. Academically, this research advances the literature by applying the ISM–MICMAC approach to SMEs, offering novel insights into the structural role of barriers in reverse logistics implementation.