Purpose: Supply chain practices play a major role in improving operational efficiency, enhancing resilience in industries and framing strategies for modern businesses. These practices are particularly crucial for the battery industry due to its complex supply chain network, stringent environmental compliance requirements and robust logistical operations required for effective distribution. Design/methodology/approach: This study proposed 23 supply chain practices and investigated their relationship with the supply chain performance (SCP) of a selected battery industry. A structural equation modeling (SEM) approach is used to develop a structural measurement framework. Seven constructs and 23 latent variables are considered in this study. Hypotheses are formulated based on the conceptual framework, and the partial least squares-structural equation modeling (PLS-SEM) is employed to validate these hypotheses. Findings: The results highlight significant interactions among supply chain integration (SCI), customer relationship management (CRM) and trust (TR), as well as their central roles in enhancing operational performance and other vital outcomes. CRM serves as the foundation for strong customer relationships and supports other operations. SCI acts as a central pillar; it ensures cohesive and efficient supply chain processes. TR functions as a catalyst, facilitating smoother interactions and cooperation among supply chain partners. Research limitations/implications: The study equips battery consultants and managers with insights to refine processes efficiently, allocate resources effectively and establish strategic partnerships. Furthermore, it proposes a systematic framework to enhance the battery industry’s performance. Originality/value: This study comprehensively evaluates the battery industry’s SCP through novel supply chain practices. It uniquely integrates supply chain metrics into the performance evaluation framework. Furthermore, this research proposes 23 novel supply chain practices tailored to the battery industry.

Purpose: Increased demand for new batteries and strict government protocols have stressed the battery industries to collect and recycle used batteries for economic and environmental benefits. This scenario has forced the battery industries to collect used batteries and establish the formal battery recycling plant (BRP) for effective recycling. The starting of BRP includes several strategic decisions, one of the most critical decisions encountered is to find the best sustainable location for BRP. Hence, this paper aims to address the complexity of the issues faced during the BRP location selection through a hybrid framework. Design/methodology/approach: In this study, the criteria are identified under socio-cultural, technical, environmental, economic and policy and legal (STEEP) dimensions through literature review and experts' opinions. Then, the hybrid methodology integrating fuzzy decision making trial and evaluation laboratory (DEMATEL), best worst method (BWM) and technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS) has been proposed to find the inter-relationship between criteria, the weights of criteria and the best alternative. Findings: The identified five main criteria and 26 sub-criteria have been analyzed through fuzzy DEMATEL, and found that the policy and legal criteria have more inter-relationship with other criteria. Then from BWM results, it is found that the support from government bodies has attained the maximum weightage. Finally, the second alternative has been identified as a more suitable location for establishing BRP using TOPSIS. Further, it is found from the results that the support from government bodies, the impact of emissions, availability of basic facilities and community health are the essential criteria under STEEP dimensions for establishing BRP. Originality/value: In addition to the various existing sustainable criteria, this study has also considered a set of policy and legal criteria for the evaluation of locations for BRP. Further, the hybrid MCDM method has been proposed in this study for selecting the best alternative. Thus, this study has yielded more insights to the decision-makers in choosing a sustainable location for BRP.