Integrated approaches for remanufacturing (Made in Europe Partnership) (IA)

Expected Outcome:The manufacturing industry should benefit from the following outcomes:

• Enable an industrial ecosystem[1] to double the volume of remanufactured components in the Union, compared to 2021, for the sectors and products considered;
• Stimulate new synergies for circularity in manufacturing industries;
• Increase significantly the capability in Europe to implement remanufacturing technologies for retaining, reusing, upgrading or adapting the function of products and components;
• Support skills and education capabilities for remanufacturing; and
• Support the development or revision of standards to better support remanufacturing.

These outcomes are also expected to benefit downstream applications in the net-zero industries.

Scope:Remanufacturing (including de-manufacturing) is the rebuilding of products using combinations of reused, repaired and new components. Remanufacturing aims to retain the usefulness of both products and components and is an essential step in achieving full industrial circularity. Ultimately, remanufacturing is expected to reduce the level of resource consumption, as well as the carbon footprint of products and logistic chains. Such approaches will strengthen industrial resilience by building up a remanufacturing capacity in Europe, including possible applications in net-zero technologies and components.

Proposals should demonstrate cutting-edge remanufacturing approaches, covering de-manufacturing and appropriate manufacturing technologies, model-based systems engineering, quality control and business models. Repurposing of products (at the level of systems or components) may also be considered. This approach calls for remanufacturing technologies at the factory level, as well as for their integration into circular value loops – within specific industrial sectors or across industrial sectors. In general, the approaches should integrate traditional manufacturing processes, such as additive manufacturing, machining and welding, with automation, robotics and digitalisation.

Recycling technologies for the generation of secondary raw materials are not within the scope of this topic.

Proposals should address all of the following:

• Remanufacturing technologies and processes and/or system engineering, building on advances in data sharing and AI;
• Mass de-manufacturing, such as disassembly, separation and sorting;
• Capability to produce high-quality products from a wide range of resources (new and remanufactured components and materials);
• Methodologies to facilitate decisions made at the end-of-use or end-of-life phase at the level of components or systems;
• Measurement, verification and inspection approaches assuring high quality, traceability and compliance with quality standards;
• Stringent data sourcing, interoperability and processing, coupled to robust AI technologies (leveraging on existing ontologies and through the implementation of the FAIR data principles[2]);
• International standards, building on existing standards or contributing to future standardisation, with a focus on remanufacturing standards; and
• New sets of skills required for remanufacturing implementation at the European level.

Proposals aiming to develop new products should additionally cover the design of these products for circularity. Points to consider in this case are prioritising the use of recyclable materials and recyclable or reusable components; and increased adaptability, exchangeability and lifetime of components.

Proposals should consider where relevant

• The EU regulatory framework, notably the Ecodesign for Sustainable Product Regulation[3] and the EU waste/sectoral legislation[4];
• The Ecodesign approach, especially the circular-by-design approach including modularity, repairability, adaptability and exchangeability of components as well as refurbishment and repurposing of products or components; and
• The Digital Product Passport: information about products along their overall lifecycle needs to be collected along the remanufacturing operations.

Proposals should include a business case and exploitation strategy, as outlined in the introduction to this Destination. It is essential that the business model address the entire lifecycle of remanufacturing, including logistics. They should assess the circularity and decarbonisation that can be achieved, as well as the economic case and competitiveness, and make a corresponding contribution to the standardisation of lifecycle performance metrics. Regarding decarbonisation, proposals should address the expected reductions in energy consumption and GHG emissions, and – where applicable – impact net-zero technologies and components.

Where relevant, proposals are encouraged to build on, or seek collaboration with, existing projects and develop synergies with other relevant European, national or regional initiatives and funding programmes. In particular, links are encouraged with

• the projects funded under earlier relevant topics, for example the topic on re-manufacturing, HORIZON-CL4-2023-TWIN-TRANSITION-01-04: Factory-level and value chain approaches for remanufacturing; or
• the Digital Europe programme, e.g. in the area of Manufacturing Data Spaces.

To address the requirements above related to business models and to relevant skills (and where applicable to design), appropriate contributions from Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) are indispensable. Where appropriate social partners or social innovation may be considered.

International cooperation is encouraged, especially with Japan or Taiwan.

This topic implements the co-programmed European Partnership Made in Europe.

[1] notably ecosystems acknowledged under the European Industrial Strategies

[2] Turning FAIR into reality: https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/turning_fair_into_reality_1.pdf

[3] https://ec.europa.eu/environment/publications/proposal-ecodesign-sustainable-products-regulation_en

[4] https://environment.ec.europa.eu/topics/waste-and-recycling/waste-law_en