Further sectoral analysis of the issues and challenges can be found here.  The text below describes some of the key problems facing remanufacturing as an industry.

Battling the low-price war:

Remanufacturing has a role in enabling extended producer responsibility. But remanufacturing is under threat from low cost imports of improving quality goods from abroad. The relatively high UK labour cost content of remanufactured goods means that it is cheaper to purchase new than recondition.

Remanufacturing is doomed to failure when used to compete in markets where price is the only basis for competition, unless a low cost source of labour is available. However, this does not rule out competition from low-cost, well-organised and networked remanufacturers who can credibly intermediate between suppliers and purchasers of goods.

Customer perception:

Realistically, remanufacturing is not a magic bullet for our production industries. Perception of remanufactured goods as 'second-class' can limit sales growth in, for example fashion-oriented, lifestyle or status products: cars, white goods, attire. Even business to business transactions suffer without strong standards for the remanufacturing process

Keeping abreast of changes:

In some cases, barriers are introduced – overtly or covertly – by original manufacturers. Independent operators must undertake costly reverse engineering functions to determine specifications. Elsewhere, skill shortages limit capacity to remanufacture.

Where rate of technological change or environmental efficiency gain from new design is high, the most sustainable strategy may not be remanufacturing. In such cases recycling and design for recycling is a sensible step.

The way forward:

Remanufacturing has the potential for even greater contribution to sustainable consumption, and there are steps that all stakeholders can take to enable this. A starting point is elimination of legal impediments such as denial of access to manufacturer design information, banning of remanufactured components in new goods, and redefinition of what constitutes waste. Removal of these would increase competition and force evolution of improved services, including remanufacturing.

Fiscal measures, which skew markets towards remanufacturing, would achieve the sustainability objective, but would create artificial markets and ultimately stifle healthy competition. But there is a place at a multi-lateral level for freedom of information, lifetime warranty to spur design fitness, and a liberalisation of the distinction between waste and resources to encourage trade in exploitable materials.

 

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