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January 12, 2021
This Week on Supply Chain Now: January 4th – 8th
Get Ready to increase your supply chain IQ! We’ve got all the latest episodes, interviews, conversations, and livestreams right here from Supply Chain Now this week. On Monday, TEKTOK host Karin Bursa sat down with Scott to look back on 2020 and discuss what’s on the horizon for 2021 On Tuesday’s podcast episode, Kelly Barner joined Scott to discuss the lessons learned in 2020 and what’s to come in 2021. On Wednesday, Scott welcomed Joe Donnell and Karl Fillhouer with Circle Logistics to talk about the recruiting and talent challenges they faced in 2020, consumer demand predictions after pandemic restrictions are lifted, & the next frontier in technological innovation. On Thursday, Scott and Greg welcome Nurfad Nadarevic to the Supply Chain Buzz to discuss the COVID-19 vaccine distribution, automotive changes ahead, and more top news in supply chain this week. We ended the week with an episode of TEKTOK, powered by Supply Chain Now, where host Karin Bursa shared the 3 Things C-Level execs need to know about Sales & Operations Planning & Inventory Optimization. Which was your favorite episode this week? Never miss an episode by subscribing to Supply Chain Now! Make sure you…
reverse logistics
January 28, 2026
Why Can’t America Train Workers for a Trillion-Dollar Industry?
Inside the reverse logistics education gap and the economic blind spot keeping it invisible Special Guest Blog Post written by Deborah Dull Tony Sciarrotta has been asking the same question at industry conferences for years. As the Senior Director of Circularity and Reverse Logistics at the National Retail Federation, he knows what answer he’s going to get. But he keeps asking anyway. “Anybody in here go to school for returns management, reverse logistics, circularity? Any degrees in those fields the room?” It’s rare that anyone raises their hand. “That’s what’s wrong with our industry,” Sciarrotta told me at NRF Rev this January, the first conference under NRF’s new reverse logistics banner. “We still need to fix it.” The Numbers That Should Make Headlines Here’s what makes reverse logistics so fascinating: the scale is staggering, but the infrastructure to support it needs to be stronger. According to the National Retail Federation, American retailers processed approximately $890 billion in returns in 2024 which is roughly 17% of all retail sales – and it’s higher for ecommerce. But that number almost certainly understates reality. “We have a fragmented industry,” Sciarrotta explained. “Where are all those returns going? It has to be…