This journal provides immediate open access to its content on the principle that making research freely available to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.The global market advent, with consumers, that requires speed, quality of service and respect for the environment came to dictate the change of some imposed paradigms. We are seeing the integration of internal and external supply chains following the customers concerns about the environment and social friendly processes, making it sustainable. The collection and treatment of waste in the islands have great economic, social and environmental importance. Several critical points, such as transport, storage and processing must be integrated. By its growing influence on the performance on the majority of economy sectors, freight transport is assumed to be one of the activities with the greatest importance. The location of facilities or infrastructure is a critical factor for the public or private organizations. The decision-making process of its location falls within strategic and when is situated in insular space must meet their specific characteristics of sustainability.With the objective of analyzing the configuration and performance of the reverse logistics chain implemented for waste collection and treatment, in concerns to facilities location, we performed a study based in secondary data, regarding to the used tires collection in the São Miguel Azorean island.From the implementation of the developed facilities location model, taking also the solution already implemented we developed several alternative possible scenarios. The results obtained meet the empirical expectations, and despite not corroborate the implemented solution as great, for the case of a collection facility, consider the actual one as acceptable. It is made a proposal to improve the implemented collection of used tiers network.The optimization of the transport network, by the correct facilities location, allows the minimization of economic costs, social impacts and the polluting emissions caused by means of transport, or by the conditions of storage of waste. We conclude, trough the mathematical model that the obtained model is appropriate, getting close to the already implemented solution. Also, the conducted study, serves as a datable application to other similar problems
