“More research is needed to be able to quantify the effects that the exploitation of the potential R-strategies (Recycle, Reuse, Refurbish, Repair and Remanufacture) can generate. As a result, the actual performance of such activities needs to be mapped and its potential contribution to a circular society assessed.”
The report by the European Topic Centre on Waste and Materials in Green Economy highlights the potential of remanufacturing as a strategy to enhance circular economy and provides insights about its possible future trends.
“When my battered 1969 Toyota car approached the age of 30, I decided that her body deserved to be remanufactured. After 2 months and 100 hours of work, she returned home in her original beauty. “I am so glad you finally bought a new car,” my neighbour remarked. Quality is still associated with newness not with caring; long-term use as undesirable, not resourceful. Cycles, such as of water and nutrients, abound in nature — discards become resources for others. Yet humans continue to ‘make, use, dispose’. One-third of plastic waste globally is not collected or managed. There is an alternative. A ‘circular economy’ would turn goods that are at the end of their service life into resources for others, closing loops in industrial ecosystems and minimizing waste (see ‘Closing loops’). It would change economic logic because it replaces production with sufficiency: reuse what you can, recycle what cannot be reused, repair what is broken, remanufacture what cannot be repaired. A study of seven European nations found that a shift to a circular economy would reduce each nation’s greenhouse-gas emissions by up to 70% and grow its workforce by about 4% — the ultimate low-carbon economy”
The International Workshop on Autonomous Remanufacturing is now arrived at its 6th edition, held in 2022 by the Wuhan University of Technology, China. In the following, you can find the links to the previous editions of the IWAR.
