Reverse logistics 2026: circularity and profitability with integrated routes

In 2026, the reverse logistics it is no longer “an extra” that is managed as it can. It is a structural part of the operation: returns, home collections, convenience points, removal of packaging, management of clean waste... and, increasingly, real circularity (recomerce, refurbishment, recycling and return of materials to the chain).

The problem: The reverse costs money, time and capacity. And if you don't plan well, you eat up the margin.

What is reverse logistics (really) in 2026?

When we talk about reverse logistics, we are talking about the “back” flow from the customer or end point to a warehouse, a hub, a sorting point, a reconditioning workshop or a waste manager.

And that involves much more than “picking up a package”:

• Pickups and returns (ecommerce, retail, B2B).
• Exchanges (delivery and pick up at the same stop).
• Removal of packaging (cardboard, plastic, pallets) on common routes.
• Pick-up at convenience points (lockers, shops, associated points).
• Return classification: resale, refurbishment, recycling, destruction.
• Traceability: collection test, condition of the package, incidents, times.

In Spain, the volume of returns and their complexity are already on the radar: e-commerce closed 2025 with 15.2 million returns (data published in January 2026).
And the operating cost doesn't magically go down: industry studies aim to cost increases per package and to the need for technological investment to contain it.

Why reverse logistics “breaks” operations if you treat it like an appendix

Reverse logistics burdens three things if you don't integrate it:

1. Route planning
   Delivering 120 “drop only” stops is not the same as mixing deliveries + pickups + exchanges. Times change, windows, priorities... and the reality of the street.
2. The capacity of the vehicle
   Conversely, the vehicle “fills up” in the middle of the road. If you don't control capacity (weight/volume/units), you're faced with:
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   1. collections that don't fit,
   2. routes that break,
   3. reattempts,
   4. and a cost that goes up silently.

3. The customer experience
   The return is part of the purchase. And at the same time, a poorly managed return is one of the biggest sources of friction (and calls). It's no accident that brands are fine-tuning policies and processes.

The future isn't “free returns forever” (unless someone pays for the party)

For years, the market pushed “returns-friendly” as a competitive advantage. But the pendulum is moving: more and more retailers are limiting returns or charging fees (especially for returns by mail), leaving free options in store or at specific points.

Recent and commented examples in industry media:

• Fees for mail-order returns on brands such as Zara or H&M, among others, and more pressure to use more efficient return channels (store/point).
• Large retailers expanding return windows in campaigns, but introducing fees in some return methods.

Operational translation: “everything free, everything easy, everything through messaging” doesn't scale when costs and environmental impact go up. If the customer wants “total convenience”, the market is starting to say: perfect, but then you charge (or a more efficient channel is encouraged).

And here's a key idea for 2026: it's not just about reducing returns; it's about designing a cost-effective system to manage them when they occur.

Circularity: turning the inverse into a useful (and measurable) operation

Cost-effective reverse logistics usually has one of these outputs:

• Recommerce (resale).
• Reconditioning (second life).
• Recycling (material returns to the system).
• Return to supplier (B2B closed circuits).

The important leap is to move from “collecting returns” to “managing returns with a clear destination”.

Real case of circularity: Ecoembes MillAzul (clean cardboard on the usual route)

A very interesting example is MillAzul, an Ecoembes pilot test in Coslada (Madrid) to facilitate the recycling of cardboard in stores for an approximate period of Three months, as an efficient solution for cardboard generated in your daily activity. Generating a new business model for the parcel delivery company, while ensuring that the truck was always full.

In projects of this type, the big challenge is not “the idea” (picking up clean cardboard sounds easy), but Fit it into the real operation without adding a brutal extra cost: same vans, same routes, same day... but adding the collection of clean waste with total traceability.

That's where technology makes the difference: if you can plan deliveries and collections together, controlling capacity and times, circularity ceases to be a “pretty” pilot and becomes a sustainable and cost-effective service.

What changes when you integrate deliveries + collections into the same plan

If your operation mixes direct and reverse, you need to answer very specific questions:

• What stops are submits, what are Pick-up And what are they swapping?
• What pickups can go in any vehicle and which do they require? minimum capacity?
• What happens if a route is already “loaded” with deliveries and also has 15 pickups?
• How do you prioritize if there are different time windows and SLAs?
• How do you avoid “empty” kilometers to pick up something that you could have picked up “in passing”?

This is not solved by “adding one more stop”. It is solved with joint optimization.

How Routal helps make reverse logistics profitable (and not a margin hole)

At Routal, reverse logistics is not managed as an exception: it is integrated into the same planning as delivery.

1) Integrated delivery and collection planning

You can build routes where they live together:

• deliveries to the customer,
• collections of returns,
• picked up at convenience points,
• and exchanges (delivery + pick up at the same stop).

The result: fewer kilometers, less improvisation and fewer reattempts.

2) Vehicle capacity to ensure feasible pickups

The key that a lot of operations overlooks: A pickup doesn't always fit.
Routal takes into account the Vehicle capacity to assign pickups to routes where they are actually possible (depending on volume/units/weight, depending on the operating model).

This avoids the classic “yes, we pick it up” which becomes:

• “it didn't fit”,
• “stop by tomorrow”,
• “we duplicate route”,
• “and the margin disappears.”

3) Street monitoring and execution

The reverse requires evidence and information:

• pickup confirmation,
• incidents,
• real times,
• traceability per stop.

And the better you close that cycle, the easier it is to:

• reduce calls,
• anticipate problems,
• and make decisions about return policies based on data (not on intuition).

Advantages of reverse logistics when you do it right

Using the advantages of reverse logistics as a lever (not as an inevitable cost):

• Better customer experience (scheduled and reliable collections).
• Lower cost per return (integration into existing routes).
• More real circularity (less waste, more reuse).
• Data to decide (which products return the most, where, why and how much it costs).
• Defensible profitability: you can keep a good service without giving it away.

2026 is about balancing service, cost and circularity

Reverse logistics will continue to grow, but the market is making one thing clear: It's not sustainable that it's free and unlimited... unless the customer pays that cost or you turn it into an optimized operation.

If your operation already makes (or is going to make) returns, collections, exchanges or circularity like clean cardboard/packaging, the question is not whether you do it: it is How do you plan it to be profitable.

Routal it's designed just for that: deliveries + collected in a single schedule, with Vehicle capacity, optimization and operational control so that circularity is not a “parallel project”, but part of everyday life.

If you want to talk about your operations and how we could help improve their efficiency, Let's talk.

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