Remanufacturing:
the Ultimate Form of Recycling
 

  

Examples of remanufactured items include:

  • Automobile Parts

  • Office furniture

  • Toner cartridges

  • Computers

  • Photocopiers

  • Aircraft parts

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Economic Benefits of Remanufacturing
  • Remanufacturing firms directly employ 480 000 people in the United States.
  • 73 000 remanufacturing firms exist with total annual sales of $53 billion.
  • Automotive parts remanufacturing accounts for $36 billion a year.
  • The cost of a remanufactured automobile part saves consumers 30 to 50 percent versus a new part.
  • Remanufacturing conserves: the equivalent of 400 trillion BTU’s of energy per year.

400 trillion BTU’s equals:

  • 350 tankers of crude oil.
  • Electricity produced by 8 nuclear power plants in one year.
 
Environmental Benefits of Remanufacturing
  • Automotive remanufacturing reduces emissions since castings are not resmelt.
  • Auto part remanufacturing reduces solid waste keeping it out of landfills.
  • Automobiles are the most recyclable products in the world. About 75-85% of vehicle content by weight is recycled.
  • The affordability of remanufactured parts extends the life of vehicles on the road rather than sending them to junkyards.
  • 80% of U.S. consumers take into consideration environmental concerns when making purchases.
  • Remanufacturing conserves enough worldwide material to fill a train 1 650 miles long.
  • Remanufacturing saves: Over 80% of the energy that would have been used in producing that part new reducing an estimated 28 million tons of carbon dioxide—a major cause of global warming!

28 million tons of carbon dioxide is equivalent to:

  • The amount of carbon dioxide released by ten 500 Megawatt coal-fired electricity-generating plants yearly.
  • The same amount of electricity required to operate over 1 000 medium sized university complexes across the nation.