In this paper, we adopt the bibliometric analysis software CiteSpace to analyze the research status quo and evolution trend of pickup and delivery problem (PDP), an important real-world issue occurring in logistics and transportation. We obtain 819 documents with the topic of PDP that were published in the Web of Science core collection during the period 1995–2021, and acquire their basic situation of posting trend and category distribution. Next, we employ CiteSpace to draw scientific knowledge maps and perform the corresponding visualization analysis, which mainly include the following aspects: (a) collaboration analysis of author, country, and institution; (b) co-citation analysis of author, journal, and reference; (c) citation burst detection of keyword; (d) co-citation clustering analysis of reference. The results show that PDP research has gradually become interdisciplinary and highly comprehensive, and the evolution trend of hot topics also reflects that the research directions involve multiple academic disciplines and professional areas ranging from algorithm design to logistics management. The changing knowledge components reveal the fact that the development of PDP research is highly related to the diversity and uncertainty of realistic logistics industry contexts. Study in this paper provides comprehensive understandings of PDP research for scholars and logistics practitioners, inspiring its further investigation.

Value of Mass Media in Food Safety Information Disclosure from the Perspective of Big Data: The advent of big data infrastructure has promoted the development of media forms and content. Food safety information disclosure (FSID) is an effective solution to regulate food safety issues. The mass media, government regulatory agencies, and food companies jointly participate in the disclosure of food safety information. Due to social responsibilities and common interests, a tripartite game relationship is formed. After an evolutionary game model was established with China as an example, the mass medias participation in food safety information disclosure can affect the publics decision-making, and true disclosure can promote the process and effectiveness; however, false disclosure will have adverse effects on all three parties. The application of big data technology doubles the positive and negative effects. Therefore, the government needs to strengthen the supervision of the mass medias participation, and food companies need to actively provide correct disclosure information. The media should strengthen their management and use big data rationally, formulate corresponding disclosure strategies, and coordinate the three parties to promote food safety information disclosure.

The Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) system for electrical and electronic equipment in China has evolved from a “fund-based” to a “special fund” model. To transcend conventional end-of-pipe governance, we propose an “EPR 3.0” framework that extends environmental responsibility to the consumption stage. The model centers on consumer responsibility and is operationalized through an advance disposal fee (ADF) with transfer payments, complemented by carbon taxation and subsidy mechanisms. Using a tri‑party evolutionary game model and system dynamics simulation, we identify two evolutionary stable states: a government‑led collaborative governance phase and a market‑driven circular endogenous phase. Results show that consumer preferences drive producers’ adoption of eco-design, and the policy mix of the ADF and transfer payments significantly enhances producer compliance, while consumer responsiveness to public education campaign exhibits an optimal sensitivity range. Based on the analysis of system feedback mechanisms, we further propose a four-stage evolutionary framework of EPR development (EPR 1.0–4.0), revealing the transition of the EPR system from exogenous policy-driven development to endogenous market-driven evolution. The proposed evolutionary pathway and integrated policy framework provide valuable insights for developing countries seeking to establish effective e-waste management systems.

Computing infrastructure has become a critical underlying resource for the digital development and sustainable transformation of manufacturing firms. Using panel data from Chinese listed manufacturing firms from 2011 to 2024, this study employs a two-way fixed-effects model to examine the impact of computing infrastructure development on corporate ESG performance. The results show that computing infrastructure development significantly improves firms’ ESG performance, and this finding remains robust across a series of robustness checks. Further analysis indicates that this effect operates primarily through reducing internal transaction costs, optimizing human capital structure, and promoting digital transformation, while being strengthened by managerial capabilities and the level of regional green finance development. This study extends research on computing infrastructure and corporate ESG from the perspective of underlying digital infrastructure, providing empirical evidence on how digital resources contribute to corporate sustainability and offering implications for optimizing computing infrastructure deployment.