Remanufacturing as official operation to transfer waste into useful parts
The reman industry expects the United Nations to define remanufacturing as an official operation to transfer waste into useful parts. This new definition would help to change the view on used parts as necessary material for a successful circular economy.
The transborder movement of hazardous waste and also the distinction between hazardous-waste, non-hazardous waste and non-waste is defined on international UN level at the so-called Basel convention. The guidelines are followed by 188 states, the US has recently announced to participate aswell.
As representative of the automotive industry, APRA is a registered observer at UNEP Basel-Convention since 2015. This allows the free access to all working groups, the participation in discussions in the ongoing meetings and at the major “Conference of the Parties” [COPs], the main meeting of all delegations from 188 States, NGOs and Industry associations.
Within the Basel Convention, waste treatments are officially defined. They are divided in two categories
a) operations for final disposal without any recovery and
b) operations for recovery
Up to now, there was no defined waste recovery operation to transfer waste in non-waste without shredding and destroying the parts. At the last COP the recommendation of a working group lead by the European Union was presented to introduce new operations for recovery in the international guidelines. Most important for the remanufacturing industry, mainly for the core supplier, will be “R14) Preparation for re-use (e.g. checking, cleaning, repair, remanufacturing)” and “R16) Repackaging prior to submission to any of the operations in Section B” as official waste recovery operations.
It is expected that this new understanding will be adapted by the Basel convention in 2022 and enforced soon in national legislations worldwide.
A huge success of the aligned efforts of mutable industry associations to path the way for the remanufacturing industry. It will provide the legal framework to ship core accruing form scrap yards intended to be remanufactured as non-waste. This way, more used parts and used material can be remanufactured and support circular economy in general.
C-ECO is a member of APRA since 2017. With their service brand, CoremanNet, the company takes over a leading role in the automotive aftermarket since 2001. CoremanNet manages all typical circular economy challenges to ensure the availability of used car parts for remanufacturing.
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