Remanufacturing in Circular Economy: A gearbox Example

Abstract

To have the lowest impact on the environment, it is important to shift from the linear economy characterized by take-make-use-dispose to the circular economy focusing on re-make and re-use. This is the case when it comes to a wide range of spare parts at Volvo Cars. The primary purpose when the remanufacturing program started was because of the shortage of raw materials during the Second World War. To be able to judge the environmental consequence of such a program, a Life Cycle Assessment was performed on both a newly manufactured and a remanufactured gearbox. The assessment also included a Life Cycle Cost Analysis to evaluate the economic benefits of using the remanufacturing program. The study included the life cycle of around 30 components in a gearbox, constituting of the largest share by weight of the gearbox. The modeling was done using OpenLCA, a software which performs the environmental impact calculations for different materials. The results showed that the remanufacturing of the gearbox reduced the global warming potential (CO2-eq) by 36% compared to a newly manufactured one. The major contributing phase to the emissions is the extraction of steel and aluminum, which justifies the result (since a remanufactured one requires less extraction). Looking at each life cycle phase separately, the use phase was by far the largest contributor in terms of environmental impact. This shows that the biggest potential in environmental saving would be by implementing more efficient gearboxes with less losses. The conclusion of the study is that it is better to use remanufactured gearboxes as a spare part as it is not only more environmental friendly, but also more cost efficient.