French and German MEPs promote remanufacturing

September 23, 2015

The European politicians said remanufacturing is better than recycling and repairing used products, stating that “remanufactured products cost 40 to 65 percent less to produce”.

Pascal Durand of the Greens-EFA political alliance and Jo Leinen of the Socialists and Democrats group also said in an article on EU Observer that the products are “typically 30 to 40 percent cheaper for customers”. They explained how the process returns the product “as-good-as-new”, extending its lifetime.

Europe is behind the United States in developing a remanufacturing economy, although the industry is worth $43 billion (€38 billion) and provides 180,000 full-time jobs, 36 percent of which is accounted for by SMEs, the article said, with the industry’s value growing 15 percent per annum.

“This is the success story that Europe needs to start writing as well to boost its economy, create new jobs, improve European companies’ competitive position and reduce its ecological footprint. Remanufacturing is currently working in business-to-business markets, but it can, and should be, scaled up to consumer products.

“There are many benefits to this business model: remanufacturing these electronic appliances creates highly skilled employment in Europe and causes 15 times less greenhouse gas emissions than producing a new one.”

The politicians added that the European Commission should “help give our [European] products a new lease of life. It is a matter of political will”, advising the setting up of a “legal framework which creates a level playing field for the manufacturers, for independent commercial repair services and for re-use centres”.

 

Categories : Around the Industry

Tags : Circular economy EU Remanufacturing