Remanufacturability evaluation of end-of-life products considering technology, economy and environment: A review

Supply chain optimisation for recycling and remanufacturing sustainable management in end-of-life vehicles: A mini-review and classification

End-of-life vehicles (ELV) management is becoming a global concern in the automotive industry. However, there is still limited study on supply chain optimisation that focusses on specific ELV treatments. Therefore, this mini-review article analyses the supply chain optimisation for recycling and remanufacturing sustainable management in ELV. A total of 51 papers were reviewed from the year 2016 to 2021. The key topics in each article were assessed and classified into various themes, followed by the content analysis. The percentage breakdown for the six main themes are ELV recovery management system (37.25%), reverse logistic network design (29.41%), ELV economy analysis (15.69%), government regulation or subsidies (7.84%), ELV quantity forecast (5.88%) and ELV part design (3.92%). It can be concluded that ELV recovery management and reverse logistic network design are the top two key focusses of supply chain optimisation priorities that have been extensively applied to improve ELV development. The literature gap has shown that the study on remanufacturing in the ELV supply chain is minimal compared to recycling. The classification of ELV recycling and remanufacturing supply chain optimisation in this study will be beneficial in supporting real-life problem-solving for industrial applications. This study serves as a valuable reference guide to identifying more sustainable solutions in ELV management and promoting the critical focus area for academicians and industry players.

Development of the Circular Product Readiness Method in Circular Design

Design indicators can be used by companies to track circular design implementation, which can yield insights into their performance and opportunities for improvement. Yet, existing indicator methods either lack depth with regard to circular design, are incomplete, or do not use design semantics. This study explores product-level circularity indicators, with the aim of developing a comprehensive circularity indicator method specifically aimed at designers. The method development process follows a three step Design Science Research approach. It comprises a literature review and knowledge coproduction sessions with circular design experts on topics such as durability, repair, remanufacturing, and recycling. Furthermore, it includes company evaluations with two multinational corporations operating in the white goods and automotive industries. The study delivers the first indicator method for assessing circular product design on a broad range of aspects, including levels of readiness, company strengths, and opportunities for improvement. The method uses product design semantics to evaluate design aspects, takes a comprehensive view of the full life cycle, and has been specifically developed for industry use.

Product Design Scheme Generation and Optimization Decisions While Considering Remanufacturability

Social awareness of the environment has promoted the vigorous development of remanufacturing. Traditional product design does not consider the remanufacturability, which leads to improper disposal at the end of the product’s life, resulting in environmental pollution and resource waste. In this paper, a method for the generation and optimization of product design schemes was established, in which remanufacturability was included at the early design stage of the product. Firstly, based on axiomatic design, the Z-shaped mapping was upgraded to the tree topology mapping, which was then incorporated into the scheme generation model, and seven remanufacturability design constraint criteria were used as constraints to obtain a product design set of scenarios. Secondly, the entropy weight method and analytic hierarchy process were combined to calculate the weights of the four evaluation indicators: functionality, economy, stability, and environment; and a differential evolution algorithm was used to optimize the scheme. Finally, a lathe was taken as a case to illustrate the applicability and effectiveness of the proposed methodology. The results showed that the method could successfully generate product design schemes that improved remanufacturability and met the needs of users.

A Review on Global Emissions by E-Products Based Waste: Technical Management for Reduced Effects and Achieving Sustainable Development Goals

In the 21st century, a great amount of electrical and electronic waste (e-waste) has accumulated, and the unregulated nature of its disposal and recycling represents a particular hazard in a global context. For the purposes of e-waste management, there must be more emphasis on the scientific processes for recycling, reusing and remanufacturing precious materials. Resource management is related to energy management; therefore, the harvesting of costly materials from e-waste is important for both energy management and sustainable development. At present, a lack of scientific recycling of a significant amount of e-waste is a source of environmental pollution and health hazards that are having a detrimental effect on sustainable development goals. It is necessary to find a process for recovering valuable materials from e-waste with the minimum possible environmental impact. At present, it is essential to modify the process of electrical and electronic products (e-products) becoming e-waste, and the subsequent process of e-waste recycling, in order to lessen the impact in terms of pollution. E-waste scientific recycling initiatives can reduce the environmental impact of the process, which in turn can support a shift from the current linear flow of costly materials to a more sustainable circular flow. Furthermore, internal consumption loss, emissions, and heating loss from e-products are the main factors contributing to the loss of energy efficiency in the process, which in turn contributes to environmental pollution. Promoting green innovation in the manufacturing process of e-products, as well as their reuse, can reduce the environmental impact of e-waste in near future. Both of these pathways are imperative for a less polluted, low-toxic environment and sustainable development. However, the sustainable development initiative of the United Nation Environmental Programme (UNEP) policy framework is the ultimate goal. This is expected to support the management of environmental pollution, maintaining it at an acceptable level, while also preventing hazardous risks to human health. Hence, this review examines the prospects for achievable environmental sustainability through technological developments.

A Qualitative and Quantitative Analysis of Remanufacturing Research

The advancements in human lifestyle result in growth in daily demands of products, and accordingly, an increased rate of manufacturing. However, the resources on the planet Earth are limited, thus depleting day-by-day. More goods also contribute to more end-of-life (EOL) dumping or even before EOL in some cases. Therefore, an interest in remanufacturing has appeared, and it offers a solution that can solve or perhaps mitigate the risks of consuming more resources and increasing waste. Remanufacturing is a procedure of bringing used products to “like-new” functional status with a matching warranty. However, due to its relative novelty in terms of research field and industry, remanufacturing is poorly understood. People often mix it with other terms such as recycling, reconditioning, or repair. Therefore, in this research, the focus is on the remanufacturing systems’ definition, relevance, main phases, case studies, and solution methods proposed by various researchers. The word ‘remanufacturing’ is clearly described in this paper by differentiating it from alternative green manufacturing initiatives. Both qualitative and quantitative analysis of literature are performed. The quantitative analysis is conducted using a bibliometric method. For quantitative analysis, a systematic approach is utilized for research papers’ selection. The qualitative analysis has been carried out by discussing different aspects of remanufacturing and how the researchers are working on its different domains and phases. The review showed that researchers focused on some phases more as compared with others. Moreover, it is also revealed from the literature that the common solutions methods applied in this domain are optimization techniques. Future research directions are also identified and presented.