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Hanna Linden
Senior forskare
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Remanufacturing extends the lifespan of products and reduces the environmental impact
Becoming a leader in the circular economy is largely about reusing existing materials, components, and products, and creating new value from them. How successful you are is determined right from the design phase.
– Replacing or upgrading components is much easier if remanufacturing is considered during the design phase," says Hanna Lindén, a researcher at RISE specialising in sustainability and the circular economy.
An often-cited figure is 80 percent, she says. This means that a significant portion of a product’s environmental impact originates in the design phase, making the criteria set at this stage crucial for the product’s lifecycle and environmental footprint. But how should we approach industrial remanufacturing?
– It is easier if the product is designed with sustainability in mind from the beginning. For example, it should be modular, meaning it consists of parts and components that are easy to disassemble and reassemble. So, glue is not ideal. But screws with uniform heads are preferable to minimise the number of screwdriver changes. Therefore, furniture that is screwed together or assembled in ways other than gluing is easier to repair or update. Smart assembly also makes recycling easier later in the process
Collaboration facilitates remanufacturing
In recent years, several RISE projects have aimed at large-scale sustainability and circularity. Currently, for example, the preliminary study Innovating remanufacturing: disassembly and exploration of new practice in test facility environment is underway. The aim is to create an ecosystem and facilitate increased remanufacturing by having companies and researchers collaborate to disassemble products in various test bed environments. With the help of expertise, technology, and equipment, they question established methods and innovate together in design, product, and production to promote remanufacturing.
When the linear economy transforms into a circular one, and the product you once sold returns for reuse, remanufacturing, or recycling, a variety of new conditions and business models emerge. In a circular economy, the value you have already created becomes evident, says Hanna Lindén.
–You may have extracted raw materials or refined components, invested development funds into something the customer has benefited from. Another user or customer could also benefit from that.
Some components are more critical than others when it comes to remanufacturing
The importance of logistics
Hanna Lindén highlights the importance of considering logistics flows when planning a remanufacturing process as an individual actor.
– How do you retrieve the product? Should it return to the original factory or go to a different facility? Should the material be transported across the globe? What is environmentally sustainable? It's essential to approach this with a systems perspective.
– Some components are more critical to remanufacture than others. For example, aluminum parts are particularly energy-intensive to produce.
In addition, there’s a growing trend where products are often packaged with a service or even sold solely as a function. This means that, long after the product has been manufactured, you could still own it, with knowledge of its history, which would help you understand its potential in a new usage cycle. The relationship with both the material and the customer is significantly extended.
Traceability is essential for circularity and value preservation
This traceability is crucial for effectively preserving the value of different materials and fully implementing circular practices. Digital product passports are expected to be part of the upcoming EU product legislation, and RISE is involved in several projects that provide insights into how these passports should be developed and function to promote circularity.
