Lecture 8: Circular Economy (Remanufacturiung And Reuse)

Question 1

Why does circular economy need to be considered?

Answer 1

• Natural resources are scarce
• Cost and hazards related to disposal of used products
• National and international environmental legislation

Question 2

What is the purpose of Extended Producer Responsibilities?

Answer 2

• Reduce landfill disposal, prevent waste, promote reuse and recycling, minimise risks to environment from treatment and disposal of waste

Question 3

What are some of the WEEE directive rules?

Answer 3

• Electronic waste cannot contain lead, mercury and other toxic materials.
• Private householders can return WEEE free of charge to collection facilities and producers (manufacturers, sellers) will finance the collection, treatment and disposal

Question 4

What are the objectives of the End-Of-Life Vehicle (ELV) directive?

Answer 4

• Encourage new designed vehicles to facilitate dismantling and reuse/recycling, integrate more recycled materials, and limit the use of hazardous substances
• Introduced ‘Producer Responsibility’ whereby manufacturer is responsible for the take back and recycling of vehicles they produce from 2007.

Question 5

What are the 4 product recovery types? (RRR)

Answer 5

• Remanufacture (discarded products are repaired and re-supplied, still same product)
  eg. Vehicle parts, phones, printers, furniture, fashion, musical instruments
• Reuse (disassembly and reclamation of parts for reuse in new or old products)
• Recycling (reclamation of material from parts within products)
• Energy Recovery (reclamation of energy within parts when all above options aren’t possible)

Question 6

What challenges are involved in remanufacturing?

Answer 6

• Technological obsolescence (product may be out of date with tech. and impact product lifecycle)
• Conditions of returned products vary so varying amounts of reconditioning are needed
• Lack of reliable inspection and testing methods that are non-destructive to determine suitability for remanufacturing
• Reverse logistics/geographical distribution issues in returning products to re-manufacturing site
• Customer perceptions as ‘second class’
• Remanufacturing in small scale may not be economically viable

Question 7

What are the benefits of remanufacturing?

Answer 7

• Resource conservation
• Lifecycle extension
• Retain embedded product value
• Employment in domestic economy
• Lower prices broaden product markets
• Safe devolution and disposal of hazardous materials

Question 8

What is static planning of a remanufacturing process and what are the pros and cons?

Answer 8

After a very light-touch inspection, predefined set of disassembly, cleaning, repair and reconditioning processes are carried out for all returned products

Adv - simple planning and stock control, limited inspection requirements, more robust quality control

Dis - redundant process, unnecessary replacement of parts, not as sustainable

Question 9

What is dynamic planning of a remanufacturing process and what are the pros and cons?

Answer 9

After a comprehensive inspection, a list of sequence of process for each individual returned product

Adv - targeted process planning, more sustainable

Dis - complicated planning and stock control, required extensive and expensive inspection process, some uncertainty in quality control

Question 10

What is a case study for a remanufactured product?

Answer 10

Caterpillar Remanufactured Engine

Benefits - 43m tonnes material reused, 90% cost savings over new, over 50m tonnes CO2 saved

Challenges - developing capability to disassemble and rebuild engine, creating a substantial market for reman products (customer gets a saving)