End-of-life vehicles (ELV) has became a threat to the environment and could lead to severe environmental pollution. Implementing an efficient closed-loop supply chain system may assist in reducing the hazard caused by ELVs, as end-of-life strategies such as recycling can be conducted to process the used vehicle into raw material. However, the investigation of closed-loop supply chain systems for ELV recycling is still minimal. On that account, this paper investigates the problems in closed-loop supply chain optimization studies for end-of-life vehicle recycling by conducting a content analysis of the published articles in this area of research. The articles were reviewed, then, the main issue in each article was summarized and categorized into different classes, based on common issues found in the closed-loop supply chain optimization literature. In this case, there are five main issues in closed-loop supply chain optimization, which include network design, inventory management, supply chain coordination, production planning, and partner selection. Next, the publishing platform is listed in this paper to determine the main publication outlet in this area of research. Finally, this review provides a summary of the supply chain optimization problems in ELV recycling that will be a beneficial reference for researchers of similar interests.