Pre-Conference Short Course: Determining the Environmental Benefits of Remanufacturing

The remanufacturing business is driven by the economic benefits associated with keeping high value products in service at like-new performance. In many cases, remanufacturing may be the only way to economically maintain high value assets in service, due to inability to source new service parts. Remanufacturing is also a key component of the emerging circular economy — a concept for more sustainable growth – that aims to lower material consumption and environmental impact by keeping products in service longer rather than replacing them with new. A recent UN study demonstrated that remanufacturing can result in an 80-99% reduction in material consumption, and 57-87% reduction in fabrication energy, compared to new.

This RemanU® workshop, which is taught by reman experts from Rochester Institute of Technology, will explain the methodologies that are used to assess the environmental benefits of remanufacturing, provide case study examples that illustrate the analysis process, and discuss how the analysis can drive change and open up new opportunities.

Attendees will learn:

• How the environmental benefits of a product are evaluated
• Basic overview of Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) – the process used for undertaking an environmental benefit analysis
• Key factors that impact the material, energy, and greenhouse gas emissions for remanufactured products versus new
• Unique challenges evaluating circular processes
• Using the evaluation to drive change into a product
• New technologies and new opportunities

Instructors