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Refurbishment and reuse of waste electrical and electronic equipment
Chapter
9
Refurbishment and reuse of waste electrical and electronic equipment
W.L. Ijomah1, M. Danis2
1
2
The University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, United Kingdom; Fujitsu Technology Solutions, United Kingdom
CHAPTER OUTLINE
9.1 Need for waste electrical and electronic equipment refurbishment and reuse 264 9.2 Reuse processes and their role in sustainable manufacturing 264 9.2.1 Component versus material reuse 264 9.2.2 A comparison of options in component reuse 266
9.3 Industry sector-specific example: refurbishment of computers 9.3.1 9.3.2 9.3.3 9.3.4
269
Repair 269 Refurbishment 269 Remanufacture 270 Upgrade 271
9.4 Role of the third sector 271 9.5 Issues in waste electrical and electronic equipment refurbishment and reuse 272 9.5.1 Variability in standards and quality of refurbishment and reused products 272 9.5.2 Quality criteria for reuse and accreditation for reuse centers 273 9.5.3 Design issues in remanufacturing 274 9.5.4 Paradigm shifts affecting the use of refurbishment and reuse 275 9.5.5 Availability of information on product components, materials, and repair methods 275
9.6 Future trends 9.6.1 9.6.2 9.6.3 9.6.4 9.6.5
277
Legislation 277 Customer demand 277 Cost savings 279 Competition 279 New technologies 279
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Handbook. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-102158-3.00009-4 Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
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9.7 Summary of waste electrical and electronic equipment reuse and refurbishment 280 References 281
9.1 NEED FOR WASTE ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT REFURBISHMENT AND REUSE Key manufacturing challenges include pollution, natural resource depletion, waste management, and landfill space, and increasingly severe legislation now demands a reduction in the environmental impacts of products and their manufacturing processes. The accelerating pace of technology effectively renders sectors of products obsolete almost as soon as they are purchased. This is especially true for electronic and electrical equipment, where ever-improving gadgets provide many benefits but unfortunately also now contribute toward these products becoming our most rapidly growing waste stream. The quantities of waste generated each year from electrical and electronic products will continue to rise (Ijomah and Chiodo, 2010). However, product life cycle analysis demonstrates that the disposal phase contributes substantially to the environmental impacts of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) (Hawken, 1993; EEC Council Directive on hazardous Waste, 1991; EEC Council Directive on hazardous Waste, 1994), particularly in products containing materials that are toxic, scarce or valuable, or have high energy content. Within WEEE there is a combination of all these situations, for example including batteries, quality plastics, precious metals, and toxic solder. Reuse and refurbishment of WEEE are therefore critical because of the significant environmental impacts of WEEE.
9.2 REUSE PROCESSES AND THEIR ROLE IN SUSTAINABLE MANUFACTURING 9.2.1 Component versus material reuse The general reuse strategies include recycling, repair, reconditioning, and remanufacturing; all are important sustainable manufacture strategies because they help to limit landfill and the need for virgin material use in production. Since they typically involve some degree of disassembly, they are also called disassembly processes. However, they are not all equal. Repair, reconditioning, and remanufacturing (also known as component reuse, product recovery, and secondary market processes)
9.2 Reuse processes and their role in sustainable manufacturing 265
are the various production processes that use components from used products and are preferable to recycling (material reclaim/recovery or material reuse). Recycling describes the series of activities by which discarded materials are collected, sorted, processed, and used to produce new products (NRC, 1999). Product recovery has several advantages over recycling (Ijomah, 2010): n
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Product recovery is an “addition” process, whereas recycling is a “reduction” process because product recovery adds value to waste products by bringing them back to working order; recycling, on the other hand, reduces the product to its raw materials. Less of the energy and resources used in the product’s original manufacture is lost via product recovery. The reason here is that product recovery keeps products as whole as possible, thus retaining the energy and resources used during original manufacture. Recycling by reducing the product to raw material results in a loss of the bulk of energy and resource inputs. This loss is even greater if factors such as the resources and energy used in raw material extraction and transportation are included. Energy and resource expenditure to obtain a useful product again from the waste product is greater via the recycling approach. This is because with recycling, energy is expended twice: firstly, in “reducing” the product to raw material (e.g., by smelting), and secondly, in turning the reclaimed materials into useful products. Designers may be unwilling to use recycled material because they are unsure of the quality (Chick and Micklethwaite, 2002). The highest form of product recovery, remanufacture, is typically much more profitable than recycling, especially for large, complex, mechanical, and electromechanical products.
The decision to use product recovery should be carefully considered, as under certain circumstances it can be counterproductive to sustainable development, for example by assisting inefficient products to stay in circulation longer than may be desirable. This may occur after the market entry of newer-generation products that tend to be more environmentally friendly and cost-effective in operationdfor example, new-version washing machines typically require less water, detergent, and electricity. Ideally, product recovery should be used when it would be both profitable and environmentally beneficial to do so. Other issues to consider include the establishment of new business models that include an effective reverse logistics system to ensure adequate quantities of used products (cores) to support product recovery processes. The reason here is that used products are
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the primary “raw material” source in product recovery: firstly, they cannot begin without used products to rebuild, and secondly, components to assist product rebuilding should ideally be obtained from failed similar products because using virgin components would raise production costs and hence product price. This is particularly important, as consumers will purchase recovered products only if they are significantly less expensive than new alternatives (Ijomah, 2002; Ijomah and Childe, 2007). Ensuring adequate core supply is especially difficult in the case of domestic products because it is impossible to have a definition or statement of lifetime for such products. The reason here is that it cannot be determined when the products will come to the end of their lives. This depends entirely on the consumer; some consumers may use their products only until a new version comes to market, while others use them as long as they will operate no matter the level of inefficiency. Product recovery processes should also ideally be relatively localized to avoid large carbon footprints from transportation if parts of the process were undertaken in different locations, or worse, used products were exported for processing and then imported back into the country of origin for sale. Within the product recovery processes there is a hierarchy based primarily on quality. Remanufacturing is at the top of this hierarchy because it is the only product recovery process that can bring used products to standards equal to those of the new alternative in terms of quality, performance, and warranty. The following section outlines the key differences between remanufacture and other product recovery processes and describes the major advantages of remanufacturing.
9.2.2 A comparison of options in component reuse The three major component reuse options are not equal but rather exist on a hierarchy with remanufacture at the top, followed by reconditioning and then repair. Remanufacturing is the process of returning a used product to at least its original performance specifications from a customer perspective and giving the resultant product a warranty at least equal to that of a newly manufactured equivalent (Ijomah, 2002; Ijomah et al., 2004). Currently, remanufacturing is typically profitable for large, complex mechanical and electromechanical products with highly stable product and process technologies (Ijomah, 2002; Ijomah et al., 2007a) as well as materials and components that are costly to manufacture or may become costly in the future. The value of reusing these products’ components relative to the cost of disassembly makes manual disassembly worthwhile and enables the profitable remanufacture of these products.
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Remanufacturing can be differentiated from repair and reconditioning in four key ways (Ijomah, 2002): n
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Remanufactured products have warranties equal to those of new alternatives, whereas repaired and reconditioned products have inferior guarantees. With reconditioning, the warranty typically applies to all major wearing parts, whereas for repair it applies only to the component that has been repaired. Remanufacturing generally involves greater work content than that of the other two processes, and as a result its products tend to have superior quality and performance. Remanufactured products lose their identity, whereas repaired and reconditioned products retain theirs, because in remanufacturing all product components are assessed, and those that cannot be brought back to at least their original performance specifications are replaced with new components. Remanufacture may involve upgrading a used product beyond its original specifications, which does not occur with repair and reconditioning.
Table 9.1 defines and differentiates repair, reconditioning, and remanufacturing. Fig. 9.1 shows the three processes on a hierarchy based on the work content they typically require, the performance to be obtained from them, and the value of the warranty they normally carry. The key advantage of remanufacturing over reconditioning and repair is that it permits an organization to combine the key order winners of low price and product quality, especially because remanufacturing includes increasing the performance and quality of a used product beyond its standards when new. This ability of remanufacturing to deliver high quality is
Table 9.1 Definitions of Secondary Market Processes (Ijomah, 2002; BSI, 2010) Remanufacturing
Reconditioning
Repair
The process of returning a used product to at least the original equipment manufacturer’s performance specifications from a customer perspective and giving the resultant product a warranty at least equal to that of a newly manufactured equivalent. The process of returning a used product to a satisfactory working condition that may be inferior to the original specifications. Generally, the resultant product has a warranty that is less than that of a newly manufactured equivalent. The warranty applies to all major wearing parts. Repairing is simply the correction of specified faults in a product. Generally, the quality of a repaired product is inferior to that of the remanufactured and reconditioned alternative. When repaired products have warranties, they are less than those of newly manufactured equivalents. Also, the warranty may not cover the whole product but only the component that has been repaired.
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Work content
Warranty
Performance
Key: Remanufacturing Reconditioning Repairing n FIGURE 9.1 The hierarchy of secondary market production processes (Ijomah, 2002).
especially important to “A” class manufacturers and “customers” who value the reputation of their service and brand name above a low product cost. Xerox is a key example of successful remanufacture because its copiers typically undergo seven life cycles. This means that seven revenue streams are generated from the manufacture of a single product, and materials are diverted from landfill or recycling at least six times (Gray and Charter, 2006). The disadvantage of remanufacture compared with lesser product recovery processes is that it is generally more expensive because of the greater resource and work content involved. Thus there are many products where remanufacturing would be cost-prohibitive given the current remanufacturing technology and knowledge base. Domestic appliance remanufacturing, for example, would not be viable as a profitable business. This is because the cost of processing items such as refrigerators and stoves for recycling continues to decrease, and according to AMDEA (2008) would be less than £5.00 in 2009, whereas the value obtained at the treatment plant continues to increase. Also, the value of steel doubled between 2002 and 2006 (AMDEA, 2008), thus increasing the profitability of recycling relatively low-price goods having good metallic content. The authors’ interviews of major domestic appliance manufacturers, such as LEC Refrigeration and Merloni, indicate that the remanufacturing of domestic appliances is costprohibitivedat least within the EU. The main reason is the cost of the manual
9.3 Industry sector-specific example: refurbishment of computers 269
labor involved in remanufacturing as well as costs for things such as testing to safety standards. Such tests are expensive to run, and though their costs in new manufacture can be limited by running them in batches, in remanufacturing the tests must be undertaken individually.
9.3 INDUSTRY SECTOR-SPECIFIC EXAMPLE: REFURBISHMENT OF COMPUTERS The refurbishment of computers and other office products such as printers has been occurring for more than 20 years and was led not by the original manufacturers but by independent specialists who identified a commercial opportunity. Most manufacturers still do not address this as a priority in serving their customers or the market, and so the naturally occurring demand is still mainly satisfied by independent providers. The rework of computers and printing products can be broadly grouped into three categories; repaired, refurbished, and remanufactured. A growing number of manufacturers have now implemented processes to provide used equipment to their customers, with some utilizing their in-house capabilities and others engaging independent specialists as service providers. In the absence of legislation and standards, accepted practices will vary among used equipment providers (be they manufacturers or specialists), but the following descriptions provide a guide to product expectations within the three categories of the IT market sector as observed by the authors.
9.3.1 Repair The act of fixing or correcting a fault, a defect, or damage is called a repair. An electrical or mechanical repair brings a product back to a functional working state, whereas a cosmetic repair restores a product that has minor exterior surface damage and/or blemishes (such as scratches, dents, cracks, and chipping). A product can be repaired in the field by a service technician or by a dedicated service or repair facility at the manufacturer or specialist. Testing is performed only to ensure that the repair did in fact eliminate or fix the specific identified defect. Repairs are inherent activities in the more extensive processes of refurbishment and remanufacturing.
9.3.2 Refurbishment One of the two processes most associated with reused products, refurbishment provides a cleaned and repaired product in full working order with minimal or no visual flaws. Unlike a field repair or upgrade (see discussion below), refurbishment is performed in a factory setting with operational
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specifications where a more expanded tool set, cleaning solutions, solvents, paints, and other surface treatment capabilities are involved. Upgrade here describes returning a used product to a greater performance or quality standard than it had when new. While the refurbishment process does not seek to increase the product’s original manufactured capability, higher-capacity components may be added if original parts are no longer available or if later higher-capacity parts are of comparable cost. A refurbished product generally carries a limited warranty dependent upon the supplier (original manufacturer or independent specialist), age of product, and price charged.
9.3.3 Remanufacture Remanufacturing is more complex than refurbishment; it is a detailed and comprehensive disassembly and reassembly process that brings a used product back to at least its specified state as original equipment. Dependent upon the processes of the remanufacturer (whether original manufacturer or independent specialist), the disassembly process can preserve the identity of the original product (via its serial number), or a completely new system identity can be created (supported by a new serial number). Remanufacture includes the thorough cleaning, testing, and diagnosis of all the disassembled parts. Dependent upon commercial viability, the worn, failing, and obsolete components are either repaired or replaced. Repairs to components and subassemblies may be carried out by the remanufacturer or sent to product specialists. Upgrades to hardware parts are also provided where commercially viable, and software and firmware engineering changes developed since the product was introduced are also included in the remanufacturing process. Remanufacturing is performed in a factory setting with supporting tool and test sets equivalent to those used in current production with instructions contained in floor-controlled process documentation. As products are completely disassembled, original factory settings can be reset or adjusted. New features and upgrades can be added so that products share the latest technology that is available with current production models. Remanufactured products can thus have capabilities equivalent to current production models, are tested to the same levels, and are generally sold on an “as-new” basis with a comprehensive or as-new warranty. It should be noted that the accepted industry term for remanufacturing in IT is more akin to rebuild, as very little is actually remanufactured in the same way that a component is originally manufactured. Most computer and printer suppliers will use specialist manufacturers for the fabrication of
9.4 Role of the third sector 271
key components and subassemblies (such as CPUs, memory chips, and optical and hard disk drives), and the cost of replacement with a current production part is generally less than the cost of trying to repair the older failed product. The labor cost to determine a fault and then repair and test it generally outweighs the cost of quickly replacing it with a new (and often upgraded) component. Most manufacturers will also not invest in a specific element of a production process to handle such repaired products, as the economies of scale are inferior to the high throughput of new manufactured parts. Thus the most common solution is that of replacement for a part or subassembly.
9.3.4 Upgrade A repair can be a part of a refurbishment or remanufacturing process, as can an upgrade. Upgrades can be developed to fix customer satisfaction issues or be planned events in the product life cycle, especially where that product is complex and designed for extended life. An upgrade generally enhances or improves the performance of a product by increasing its function or capacity and involves the substitution, replacement, or addition of components (hardware) or applications (software) to increase a product’s original capability. As with a repair, testing is limited and only to ensure that the upgrade was installed correctly and is working properly. Some upgrades may increase a product’s capability beyond its technology level when originally manufactured, whereas others can improve a product’s capability to that of the latest production performance. This is based on the forward compatibility of a product, which is dependent upon functional flexibility in design and manufacture that provides the ability to enhance a product throughout its life cycle. Upgrades can also result from a lack of availability of the original component, and thus both repairs and refurbishment can contain upgrades through lack of choice.
9.4 ROLE OF THE THIRD SECTOR Although secondary market processing, particularly remanufacturing of domestic appliances, may not be justifiable on environmental or profitability grounds, it may be justifiable in terms of its societal benefits, for example by addressing poverty, unemployment, or lack of skills. The great decision
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to be made in considering secondary market processing of certain product types such as domestic appliances is whether their environmental and profitability disadvantages can be offset by their immense societal benefits plus the environmental benefits of reworking products from other sectors. It could be that the positive societal impacts outweigh the environmental disadvantages. The societal benefits of secondary market processes include employment creation, creation of a living for the local community and for people selling secondhand goods, provision of goods for poor people who would otherwise not be able to afford them, and provision of training for low-skilled and unskilled labor. The societal benefits of secondary market processes can be illustrated through the work of EMMAUS, a Catholic charity for the homeless (www.emmaus.org.uk). EMMAUS takes donated products requiring rework and helps homeless people rework the products under supervision. This arrangement has several key benefits: n
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The homeless benefit by having a roof over their heads, paid employment, confidence, and new skills to help them start again. EMMAUS benefits by using the excess profits to continue their various charitable causes. Employment is created for the technician supervising the ex-homeless. Poor people benefit because they can afford to purchase goods. Employment is created.
9.5 ISSUES IN WASTE ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT REFURBISHMENT AND REUSE 9.5.1 Variability in standards and quality of refurbishment and reused products The authors’ observations and work within industry indicate that in contrast to the handling of products once they have reached the end of their usable lives, no current legislation in the EU or other developed economies and regions directs the reuse of computer equipment through refurbishment or remanufacturing. Existing WEEE legislation covers the responsibilities and requirements for the effective treatment of products once they are defined as waste, but as yet there is nothing to guide users and manufacturers on reuse or extended use. Without legislation, there is little framework for industry standards, and with the majority of refurbishment in the hands of independent specialists, there are variations in the levels of rework and the quality of output. Being commercially driven, independent providers will generally seek the most cost-effective options to return a system to a working order such that it
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may benefit from a second productive life, and so market offerings become variable and complex. Some industry associations that represent both manufacturers and independent providers have attempted to clarify equipment rework processes through the creation of definitions, but as yet these have not been developed into recognized national or international standards that can be independently audited to provide recognized levels of accreditation.
9.5.2 Quality criteria for reuse and accreditation for reuse centers As previously stated, there is little regulation in the area of reused IT, and thus the standards and quality levels across providers to the used IT market vary widely. The clearest current control is legislation over the sale of goods, in that a product may not be misrepresented and must be fit for purpose and as described. Thus most products offered for sale are merely described as “used” without any further clarification. Some manufacturers may further differentiate their offerings by describing their products as ex-demonstration, ex-fair, ex-loan, ex-rental, etc. This typically applies to newer used equipment that is less than 12 months old. Occasionally some manufacturers will sell off excess new-product inventory or overstock through their used product channels at lower prices, even if unopened and in new condition. Most manufacturers and larger independent providers identify their product rework processes with other business accreditations held, such as international ISO or CEN standards or standards from national bodies such as BSI and DIN. In the United Kingdom, BSI has provided a standard that in part covers the definitions and procedures for the reuse and resale of used IT equipment in BS 8887 (BSI, 2009). This standard has the acronym MADE, for manufacture for assembly, disassembly, and end of life (EoL). Within some subparts in part 2 of BS 8887 are process descriptions for rework levels and the reoffering of such equipment back to the market. At present this standard serves as a voluntary guide to the industry with no certification or accreditation process yet in place to confirm correct practice by a provider (be they manufacturer or independent). Many providers of used equipment also have a waste treatment license for their rework facilities to ensure compliance with legislation for the correct disposal of waste created in rework processes. As with some repair work, some used equipment providers may subcontract this recycling work to third-party specialists.
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9.5.3 Design issues in remanufacturing Optimizing reuse and refurbishment would require changes to design methods because design is the stage of the product life cycle that has the strongest influence on environmental impacts (Graedel and Allenby, 1995) and also sets product capabilities. This would initially raise product prices and thus would be initially costly, but would lead to long-term profitability, especially given increases in waste disposal costs and other environmental legislation. A key problem here is designers’ lack of expertise in designing products for reuse (see, for example, Ijomah et al., 2007a). As extensively discussed by Ijomah et al. (2007b), a key issue in designing products for reuse is avoiding features that prevent the product or component from being brought back to at least like-new functionality. These include: n
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nondurable material that may lead to breakage during refurbishment (manufacturing, repair, or reconditioning) or deterioration during use to the extent that the product is beyond “refurbishment”; joining technologies that prevent the separation of components or are likely to lead to component damage during separation; for instance, epoxy resin adhesive bonding may be used to facilitate rapid assembly but hinders disassembly without damage resulting in even greater refurbishment and reuse requirements; features that require banned substances or processing methods or that may make returning to functionality cost-prohibitive.
However, many key determinants of the potential for refurbishment and reuse fall outside the designer’s control. These include legislation, demand, fashion, and manufacturers’ prohibitive practices. Legislation can have a positive impact because it requires organizations to undertake addedvalue recovery of their products and makes waste disposal increasingly more expensive. This may encourage manufacturers to design refurbishable products. However, when legislation bans the use of a substance, products containing it cannot be reintroduced to the market and hence would not be reused. Refurbishment and reuse are appropriate only where there is a market for the reworked product. Thus fashion-affected products are inappropriate because users may prefer the newer product no matter the quality and cost of the refurbished alternative. Some customers demand newness as a lifestyle choice, and thus some productsdespecially those with a relatively low initial financial outlay or in prominent locations within homesdare generally less amenable to profitable refurbishment and reuse. Manufacturers’ prohibitive practices such as patents, intellectual property rights, and anticompetitive manufacturing also hinder refurbishment and reuse. For example, some printer manufacturers have designed their inkjet
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cartridges so that they self-destruct when empty, thus preventing their remanufacture. However, if there are no old products to cannibalize, good parts cannot be obtained from existing used products, or the technology for producing new parts becomes obsolete, product refurbishment is no longer possible.
9.5.4 Paradigm shifts affecting the use of refurbishment and reuse Traditionally, safety, performance, and cost are the key considerations in manufacturing decisions. However, changing global and business circumstances are forcing organizations to reanalyze their strategic decisions so that additional factors such as raw material costs and environmental legislation are also considered design and manufacturing decisions. This is leading to paradigm shifts that affect reuse and refurbishment. Two key ones here are the move from product sale to the sale of capability (the move to “product-service” systems; Ijomah et al., 2007b; Ijomah, 2009; Sundin et al., 2009) and the move by some companies away from manufacturing to assembly or bought-out parts. Regarding the first, manufacturers have traditionally transferred their product ownership to customers at sale. Today some manufacturers are opting to keep ownership of their product and instead sell the product’s capability to the customerdan example being “power-by-the-hour” in the aerospace industry. The manufacturer acts as a service provider and takes any risks associated with the product’s failure. As the customer purchases only the guarantee of provision of capability, the focus changes to the customer’s satisfaction with the capability provided, and the issue of the product’s newness (number of life cycles) becomes less important. Refurbishment and reuse reduce the costs to the organization of adopting the service business model; for example, maintenance costs are reduced through the use of refurbished and reused components, and remanufactured or refurbished whole engines can be used in place of more expensive all-new engines. In the latter case, to save costs some producers now purchase components from countries with lower labor costs and simply assemble these parts. This is leading to a loss of the practical engineering skills required for remanufacture.
9.5.5 Availability of information on product components, materials, and repair methods There is a clear difference here between the position of the original manufacturer and the independent specialist refurbishment provider. The original manufacturer will have access to all the original manufacturing information as well as subsequent engineering changes throughout the product’s
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production run (covering hardware, firmware, and software). Most manufacturers provide a dedicated production line or bench areas for rework to maintain a single focus for the production of new products, but some companies (such as Ricoh with its printers) run their reworked products for reassembly down the same production lines as new products. Necessary comprehensive information is generally provided by the manufacturer should it outsource the rework to a contracted service provider, who may operate on-site at the manufacturer’s location(s) or at its own off-site location(s). The manufacturer will also have access to spare parts holdings and the original component suppliers as well as the supply of newer and current parts to upgrade products that are reworked. Independent specialist refurbishers have greater challenges in rework, as they operate without the authority of the original manufacturer. They do not have access to process data and component suppliers and thus must achieve their comparative operational capabilities in other ways. Required components are purchased from the open market in either new or used condition, and sometimes directly from authorized and independent maintenance providers or the manufacturer’s own distribution or channel partners. In some instances complete systems will be purchased for spare parts harvesting to enable component replacement in products being reworked. Product knowledge and expertise is acquired through the hiring of staff who are former employees of the original manufacturer or its authorized sales and service partners. Owing to the range in size of independent specialists, rework capabilities vary in terms of process scale and depth, but even larger independents cannot invest to completely replicate the original manufacturer’s production or rework environments. The methods of repair and rework will be broadly similar among the manufacturer, authorized agent, and independent specialistdto test the product, rework to the required level, and make ready for reuse. Independent specialists will generally take the most cost-effective route to bringing a used product back to a repaired or refurbished working condition, whereas the manufacturer may choose to invest more in rework time and cost to provide a premium-standard used product with a commensurate warranty. All parties employ decision processes that assess the product to be reworked at various stages to ensure that the level of rework chosen enables viable resale at a profit and not a loss. Some manufacturers will not target high profit in the resale of used equipment, as they are keen to make the offering
9.6 Future trends 277
as competitive as possible against independent suppliers, and support their customer as more of a service in this area.
9.6 FUTURE TRENDS Interest in used equipment is likely to increase as demand for sustainability and responsibility in product manufacturing continues to grow. Manufacturers are focused on continual improvement for their new products, principally to ensure commercial success and survival, and they continue to develop greener products that have lower carbon impacts in use and higher raw materials recovery when recycled at EoL. Additional focus is now being placed on design-for-disassembly, originally intended to reduce costs as products were dismantled into their major materials groups for recycling (plastics, metals, precious metals, etc.). The design-for-disassembly approach also facilitates rework activities by making component and subassembly exchange quicker and easier, for example through the use of plastic clips as opposed to parts that are screwed in place with metal screws. For those manufacturers actively engaged in providing used equipment, such activities continue to be a small single-digit percentage of their overall hardware sales revenues, and sometimes only a fraction of a single percent. Niche activities not offering economies of scale are therefore not a priority. Thus focus and attention in the competitive area remains on designing and manufacturing ever-better new products, with future attention to reworked product likely to be driven by only four main factors.
9.6.1 Legislation As with WEEE legislation in the EU, manufacturers will only act (and incur costs) if required to maintain compliance with legislation. At present the WEEE legislation only covers responsibilities for electrical and electronic equipment at the point when it is declared and treated as waste, but future extensions to this legislation could move into the part of the product life cycle immediately preceding this point, when equipment is used or reused. Reused electrical and electronic equipment legislation could provide targets for manufacturers to ensure a contribution toward raw materials sustainability through the reuse or extended use of previously manufactured products.
9.6.2 Customer demand Existing demand for reused IT equipment is driven by three main factors, some of which may develop further into stronger reasons to deploy such products.
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Used equipment offers an attractive proposition for customers who are limited to a lower price point than that of new equipment. Similar to buying a used car, a larger or better-equipped product can be acquired for the same investment needed to buy an inferior-standard new product. In challenging and competitive economic times, this option becomes more attractive. Support and maintenance costs are important factors in the total cost of ownership of IT equipment, and these can be contained by maintaining a homogeneous environment where all products are the same. Supporting a common platform reduces the need for staff training, repair tools, and spare parts inventories and also provides a stable platform for deployed applications, making the role of software support engineers more straightforward. Thus the choice to purchase used equipment is based on the need to consume more of what the customer already has and provides additional required capacity by acquiring previous-generation technology that matches the existing infrastructure. Hardware life cycles and innovations are now deployed faster than software developments, and thus applications may continue to run just as effectively on previous-generation technology and display no benefit when run on the latest systems. Thus a perception of “good enough computing” is developing, where a more cost-effective solution can be applied to a business need without business performance and efficiency impacts.
Combining these three existing elements delivers compelling solutions for some customers, and all potentially could become of greater interest to the market in the future. As well as seeking to lead the market through product improvement and innovation, most manufacturers will also respond to qualified and substantive customer demand, especially if a trend is identified. Should the market continue to develop an interest in “green” or sustainable products, greater attention may be given to reworked product offerings. Many companies seek to demonstrate their green credentials to customers and stakeholders through efficient practices and responsible procurement; thus the purchase of recycled products such as pens, paper, and furniture could also be extended to electronic products to demonstrate a green contribution toward materials sustainability. Should this area of demand establish a long-term niche in the market, many manufacturers may respond by devoting more attention and resources to this area.
9.6 Future trends 279
9.6.3 Cost savings Competitiveness in the marketplace drives all suppliers to seek cost savings in all aspects of their business, and if market demand for reused equipment were to develop, thus allowing for greater economies of scale, manufacturers may perceive that an economic advantage can be realized in the area of providing reworked products. Being able to sell the same product twice, with a smaller investment through rework compared with the costs of new manufacture, may become a more interesting business case that manufacturers will respond to in the future.
9.6.4 Competition Not many manufacturers will lead as strongly or independently as Apple, and most will tend to deliver evolution more than innovation in IT product offerings. Following an innovator, one or two first movers will lead the market, after which the rest will be drawn to follow to ensure that they do not suffer a comparative or competitive disadvantage against the competition. Thus if a number of manufacturers drive more focus and attention to the reused equipment market based on any factor above, others will be prompted to follow suit. Another factor that may attract more interest in reused IT equipment in the future is diminishing returns from energy efficiency. Market offerings now include products that draw zero watts of electricity in standby mode, which cannot be improved upon. Products are also drawing less energy when in operation, but the comparative savings are reducing over time. Thus in the near future, products returning to market as reused will not be as inefficient as those in the past, and as the greater carbon impact is in the use of a system (compared with manufacture), the differential between new and used systems in this respect is narrowing.
9.6.5 New technologies The remanufacture of small-sized WEEE products at EoL is not typically profitable, as their volatile technological pace and small size make their disassembly by conventional means overly expensive. The high cost of manual disassembly (potentially worsened by a design that unintentionally or sometimes intentionally makes it more difficult) can result in a low return on investment for remanufacturing the product. This stops businesses from engaging in remanufacturing and so prevents business and the environment from benefiting from this more sustainable production technique. “Active disassembly” (AD) is an alternative to conventional dismantling techniques
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that enables the nondestructive self-disassembly of a wide variety of consumer electronics on the same generic dismantling line, thus reducing disassembly cost (Chiodo and Boks, 2002). AD is an alternative to conventional dismantling that can remove the barrier of expensive manual disassembly. AD enables cost-effective, nondestructive self-disassembly for a wide variety of WEEE and is particularly suited to high-value consumer electronics. Furthermore, AD can be carried out for different products on the same dismantling line, thereby exponentially reducing disassembly costs. The AD technique has been applied to a variety of electronic products since the 1990s (for example, Chiodo et al., 1997; Masui et al., 1999; Nishiwaki et al., 2000; Li et al., 2001; Braunschweig, 2004; Jones et al., 2004; Klett and Blessing, 2004; Duflou et al., 2007), but AD was originally designed with the intension of reducing disassembly costs in recycling. However, work is now being undertaken to use AD to extend profitable remanufacturing to small-sized WEEE, an area where disassembly cost has traditionally made remanufacturing economically unviable (see, for example, Ijomah and Chiodo, 2010).
9.7 SUMMARY OF WASTE ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT REUSE AND REFURBISHMENT Within manufacturing, the need for sustainable development is being addressed by promoting the reuse processes (recycling, repair, reconditioning, and remanufacturing). There is an urgent need to advance the reuse and refurbishment of EoL WEEE over most other solid waste categories because of its greater adverse environmental impacts plus rapidly increasing quantities. Currently, legislation regarding WEEE is inadequate, leading to disparity in the standards and quality of reworked products as well as poor customer perception and snobbery against them. For example, refurbished computer and printing equipment is generally presented back to the market as “used,” but there is rarely any description regarding the extent of rework carried out to present the product in full working order for its next life cycle. In the absence of any legislative requirements, neither manufacturers nor independent specialists will reveal the history of a product and any faults or failings previously experienced. The focus is on the provision of a working system at a competitive price compared with a new product, underpinned by a limited level of warranty generally related to the level of rework and price. Other issues in WEEE reuse and refurbishment include original equipment manufacturers’ actions to prevent refurbishment (e.g., individual producer responsibility), legislation, and poor expertise in design-for-reuse. Reuse and refurbishment are being affected by industry paradigm shifts. The
References 281
key ones are manufacturers moving from a product sale to service sale business model and from manufacturing and assembly to assembly only. The former favors refurbishment and reuse by reducing customer demand for newness in the products they use. The latter hinders refurbishment and reuse due to loss of the practical engineering skills required.
REFERENCES AMDEA, 2008. Interview by Authors of AMDEA in 2008. Braunschweig, A., 2004. Automatic disassembly of snap-in joints in electromechanical devices. In: Proceedings of the 4th International Congress Mechanical Engineering Technologies ’04; 23e25 September 2004. BSI, 2009. BS 8887-2:2009 e Terms and Definitions, BS 8887-1:2006 e General Concepts, Process and Requirements. Produced by British Standards Institute Technical Product Specification Committee (TDW/004/0-/05 Design for MADE BSI). BSI, 2010. BS 8887-220:2010 e Design for Manufacture, Assembly, Disassembly and End-of-Life Processing (MADE). Chick, A., Micklethwaite, P., 2002. Obstacles to UK Architects and Designers Specifying Recycled Products and Materials, Design History Society Conference. The University of Wales, Aberystwyth, 3e5 September 2002. Chiodo, J.D., Boks, C., 2002. Assessment of EoL strategies with active disassembly using smart materials. The Journal of Sustainable Product Design 2, 69e82. Chiodo, J.D., Ramsey, B.J., Simpson, P., 1997. The Development of a Step Change Design Approach to Reduce Environmental Impact through Provision of Alternative Processes and Scenarios for Industrial Designers. ICSID, Toronto. August 1997. Duflou, J.R., Willems, B., Dewulf, W., 2007. Towards self-disassembling products: design solutions for economically feasible large-scale disassembly. In: Brissaud, D., Tichkiewitch, S., Zwolinski, P. (Eds.), Innovation in Life Cycle Engineering and Sustainable Development. Springer, pp. 87e110. EEC Council Directive on Hazardous Waste, 1991. EEC Council Directive on Hazardous Waste, 1994. Graedel, T., Allenby, B. (Eds.), 1995. Industrial Ecology. Prentice Hall. Gray, C., Charter, M., 2006. Remanufacturing and Product Design. Available online at: http://www.cfsd.org.uk/Remanufacturing%20and%20Product%20Design.pdf. Hawken, P., 1993. The Ecology of Commerce e A Declaration of Sustainability. Harper Collins, pp. 45e46. Ijomah, W.L., 2002. A Model-based Definition of the Generic Remanufacturing Business Process (Ph.D. dissertation). University of Plymouth, UK. Ijomah, W.L., 2009. Addressing decision making for remanufacturing operations and design-for-remanufacture. International Journal of Sustainable Engineering 2 (2), 91e102. Ijomah, W.L., 2010. The application of remanufacturing in sustainable manufacture. Proceedings of the ICE - Waste and Resource Management 163 (4), 157e163. Ijomah, W.L., Childe, S.J., 2007. A model of the operations concerned in re-manufacture. International Journal of Production Research 45 (24), 5857e5880.
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Ijomah, W.L., Chiodo, J.D., 2010. Application of active disassembly to extend profitable remanufacturing in small electrical and electronic products. International Journal of Sustainable Engineering 3 (4), 246e257. Ijomah, W.L., Childe, S., McMahon, C.A., 2004. Remanufacturing: A key strategy for sustainable development. In: Proceedings of the 3rd International Conference on Design & Manufacture for Sustainable Development, UK, 1e2 September 2004. Ijomah, W.L., McMahon, C.A., Hammond, G.P., Newman, S.T., 2007a. Development of robust design-for-remanufacturing guidelines to further the aims of sustainable development. International Journal of Production Research 45 (18 & 19), 4513e4536. Ijomah, W.L., McMahon, C.A., Hammond, G.P., Newman, S.T., 2007b. Development of design for remanufacturing guidelines to support sustainable manufacture. Robotics and Computer-Integrated Manufacturing 23 (6), 712e719. Jones, N., Harrison, D., Billet, E., Chiodo, J., 2004. Electrically self-powered active disassembly. Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers e Part B: Journal of Engineering Manufacture 218 (7), 689e697. Klett, J., Blessing, L., 2004. Selection and modification of connections. In: Proceedings of the 8th International Design Conference, Dubrovnik, Croatia, 17e20 May 2004, pp. 1283e1288. Li, Y., Saitou, K., Kikuchi, N., 2001. Design of heat-activated reversible integral attachments for product-embedded disassembly. In: Proceedings of the EcoDesign ‘01: Second International Symposium on Environmentally Conscious Design and Inverse Manufacturing, Tokyo, Japan, 11e15 December 2001, pp. 360e365. Masui, K., Mizuhara, K., Ishii, K., Rose, C., 1999. Development of products embedded disassembly process based on end-of-life strategies. In: Proceedings of the EcoDesign ‘99: First International Symposium on Environmentally Conscious Design and Inverse Manufacturing, Tokyo, Japan, 10e11 December 1999, pp. 570e575. Nishiwaki, S., Saitou, K., Min, S., Kikuchi, N., 2000. Topological design considering flexibility under periodic loads. Structural Multidisciplinary Optimisation 19, 4e16. NRC, 1999. Buy Recycled Guidebook. http://www.nrc-recycle.org/brba/Buy_Recycled_ Guidebook.pdf. Sundin, E., Lindahl, M., Ijomah, W., 2009. Product design for product/service systems: design experiences from Swedish industry. Journal of Manufacturing Technology Management 20 (5), 723e753.
9
Refurbishment and reuse of waste electrical and electronic equipment
W.L. Ijomah1, M. Danis2
1
2
The University of Strathclyde, Glasgow, United Kingdom; Fujitsu Technology Solutions, United Kingdom
CHAPTER OUTLINE
9.1 Need for waste electrical and electronic equipment refurbishment and reuse 264 9.2 Reuse processes and their role in sustainable manufacturing 264 9.2.1 Component versus material reuse 264 9.2.2 A comparison of options in component reuse 266
9.3 Industry sector-specific example: refurbishment of computers 9.3.1 9.3.2 9.3.3 9.3.4
269
Repair 269 Refurbishment 269 Remanufacture 270 Upgrade 271
9.4 Role of the third sector 271 9.5 Issues in waste electrical and electronic equipment refurbishment and reuse 272 9.5.1 Variability in standards and quality of refurbishment and reused products 272 9.5.2 Quality criteria for reuse and accreditation for reuse centers 273 9.5.3 Design issues in remanufacturing 274 9.5.4 Paradigm shifts affecting the use of refurbishment and reuse 275 9.5.5 Availability of information on product components, materials, and repair methods 275
9.6 Future trends 9.6.1 9.6.2 9.6.3 9.6.4 9.6.5
277
Legislation 277 Customer demand 277 Cost savings 279 Competition 279 New technologies 279
Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) Handbook. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0-08-102158-3.00009-4 Copyright © 2019 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
263
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9.7 Summary of waste electrical and electronic equipment reuse and refurbishment 280 References 281
9.1 NEED FOR WASTE ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT REFURBISHMENT AND REUSE Key manufacturing challenges include pollution, natural resource depletion, waste management, and landfill space, and increasingly severe legislation now demands a reduction in the environmental impacts of products and their manufacturing processes. The accelerating pace of technology effectively renders sectors of products obsolete almost as soon as they are purchased. This is especially true for electronic and electrical equipment, where ever-improving gadgets provide many benefits but unfortunately also now contribute toward these products becoming our most rapidly growing waste stream. The quantities of waste generated each year from electrical and electronic products will continue to rise (Ijomah and Chiodo, 2010). However, product life cycle analysis demonstrates that the disposal phase contributes substantially to the environmental impacts of waste electrical and electronic equipment (WEEE) (Hawken, 1993; EEC Council Directive on hazardous Waste, 1991; EEC Council Directive on hazardous Waste, 1994), particularly in products containing materials that are toxic, scarce or valuable, or have high energy content. Within WEEE there is a combination of all these situations, for example including batteries, quality plastics, precious metals, and toxic solder. Reuse and refurbishment of WEEE are therefore critical because of the significant environmental impacts of WEEE.
9.2 REUSE PROCESSES AND THEIR ROLE IN SUSTAINABLE MANUFACTURING 9.2.1 Component versus material reuse The general reuse strategies include recycling, repair, reconditioning, and remanufacturing; all are important sustainable manufacture strategies because they help to limit landfill and the need for virgin material use in production. Since they typically involve some degree of disassembly, they are also called disassembly processes. However, they are not all equal. Repair, reconditioning, and remanufacturing (also known as component reuse, product recovery, and secondary market processes)
9.2 Reuse processes and their role in sustainable manufacturing 265
are the various production processes that use components from used products and are preferable to recycling (material reclaim/recovery or material reuse). Recycling describes the series of activities by which discarded materials are collected, sorted, processed, and used to produce new products (NRC, 1999). Product recovery has several advantages over recycling (Ijomah, 2010): n
n
n
n
Product recovery is an “addition” process, whereas recycling is a “reduction” process because product recovery adds value to waste products by bringing them back to working order; recycling, on the other hand, reduces the product to its raw materials. Less of the energy and resources used in the product’s original manufacture is lost via product recovery. The reason here is that product recovery keeps products as whole as possible, thus retaining the energy and resources used during original manufacture. Recycling by reducing the product to raw material results in a loss of the bulk of energy and resource inputs. This loss is even greater if factors such as the resources and energy used in raw material extraction and transportation are included. Energy and resource expenditure to obtain a useful product again from the waste product is greater via the recycling approach. This is because with recycling, energy is expended twice: firstly, in “reducing” the product to raw material (e.g., by smelting), and secondly, in turning the reclaimed materials into useful products. Designers may be unwilling to use recycled material because they are unsure of the quality (Chick and Micklethwaite, 2002). The highest form of product recovery, remanufacture, is typically much more profitable than recycling, especially for large, complex, mechanical, and electromechanical products.
The decision to use product recovery should be carefully considered, as under certain circumstances it can be counterproductive to sustainable development, for example by assisting inefficient products to stay in circulation longer than may be desirable. This may occur after the market entry of newer-generation products that tend to be more environmentally friendly and cost-effective in operationdfor example, new-version washing machines typically require less water, detergent, and electricity. Ideally, product recovery should be used when it would be both profitable and environmentally beneficial to do so. Other issues to consider include the establishment of new business models that include an effective reverse logistics system to ensure adequate quantities of used products (cores) to support product recovery processes. The reason here is that used products are
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the primary “raw material” source in product recovery: firstly, they cannot begin without used products to rebuild, and secondly, components to assist product rebuilding should ideally be obtained from failed similar products because using virgin components would raise production costs and hence product price. This is particularly important, as consumers will purchase recovered products only if they are significantly less expensive than new alternatives (Ijomah, 2002; Ijomah and Childe, 2007). Ensuring adequate core supply is especially difficult in the case of domestic products because it is impossible to have a definition or statement of lifetime for such products. The reason here is that it cannot be determined when the products will come to the end of their lives. This depends entirely on the consumer; some consumers may use their products only until a new version comes to market, while others use them as long as they will operate no matter the level of inefficiency. Product recovery processes should also ideally be relatively localized to avoid large carbon footprints from transportation if parts of the process were undertaken in different locations, or worse, used products were exported for processing and then imported back into the country of origin for sale. Within the product recovery processes there is a hierarchy based primarily on quality. Remanufacturing is at the top of this hierarchy because it is the only product recovery process that can bring used products to standards equal to those of the new alternative in terms of quality, performance, and warranty. The following section outlines the key differences between remanufacture and other product recovery processes and describes the major advantages of remanufacturing.
9.2.2 A comparison of options in component reuse The three major component reuse options are not equal but rather exist on a hierarchy with remanufacture at the top, followed by reconditioning and then repair. Remanufacturing is the process of returning a used product to at least its original performance specifications from a customer perspective and giving the resultant product a warranty at least equal to that of a newly manufactured equivalent (Ijomah, 2002; Ijomah et al., 2004). Currently, remanufacturing is typically profitable for large, complex mechanical and electromechanical products with highly stable product and process technologies (Ijomah, 2002; Ijomah et al., 2007a) as well as materials and components that are costly to manufacture or may become costly in the future. The value of reusing these products’ components relative to the cost of disassembly makes manual disassembly worthwhile and enables the profitable remanufacture of these products.
9.2 Reuse processes and their role in sustainable manufacturing 267
Remanufacturing can be differentiated from repair and reconditioning in four key ways (Ijomah, 2002): n
n
n
n
Remanufactured products have warranties equal to those of new alternatives, whereas repaired and reconditioned products have inferior guarantees. With reconditioning, the warranty typically applies to all major wearing parts, whereas for repair it applies only to the component that has been repaired. Remanufacturing generally involves greater work content than that of the other two processes, and as a result its products tend to have superior quality and performance. Remanufactured products lose their identity, whereas repaired and reconditioned products retain theirs, because in remanufacturing all product components are assessed, and those that cannot be brought back to at least their original performance specifications are replaced with new components. Remanufacture may involve upgrading a used product beyond its original specifications, which does not occur with repair and reconditioning.
Table 9.1 defines and differentiates repair, reconditioning, and remanufacturing. Fig. 9.1 shows the three processes on a hierarchy based on the work content they typically require, the performance to be obtained from them, and the value of the warranty they normally carry. The key advantage of remanufacturing over reconditioning and repair is that it permits an organization to combine the key order winners of low price and product quality, especially because remanufacturing includes increasing the performance and quality of a used product beyond its standards when new. This ability of remanufacturing to deliver high quality is
Table 9.1 Definitions of Secondary Market Processes (Ijomah, 2002; BSI, 2010) Remanufacturing
Reconditioning
Repair
The process of returning a used product to at least the original equipment manufacturer’s performance specifications from a customer perspective and giving the resultant product a warranty at least equal to that of a newly manufactured equivalent. The process of returning a used product to a satisfactory working condition that may be inferior to the original specifications. Generally, the resultant product has a warranty that is less than that of a newly manufactured equivalent. The warranty applies to all major wearing parts. Repairing is simply the correction of specified faults in a product. Generally, the quality of a repaired product is inferior to that of the remanufactured and reconditioned alternative. When repaired products have warranties, they are less than those of newly manufactured equivalents. Also, the warranty may not cover the whole product but only the component that has been repaired.
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Work content
Warranty
Performance
Key: Remanufacturing Reconditioning Repairing n FIGURE 9.1 The hierarchy of secondary market production processes (Ijomah, 2002).
especially important to “A” class manufacturers and “customers” who value the reputation of their service and brand name above a low product cost. Xerox is a key example of successful remanufacture because its copiers typically undergo seven life cycles. This means that seven revenue streams are generated from the manufacture of a single product, and materials are diverted from landfill or recycling at least six times (Gray and Charter, 2006). The disadvantage of remanufacture compared with lesser product recovery processes is that it is generally more expensive because of the greater resource and work content involved. Thus there are many products where remanufacturing would be cost-prohibitive given the current remanufacturing technology and knowledge base. Domestic appliance remanufacturing, for example, would not be viable as a profitable business. This is because the cost of processing items such as refrigerators and stoves for recycling continues to decrease, and according to AMDEA (2008) would be less than £5.00 in 2009, whereas the value obtained at the treatment plant continues to increase. Also, the value of steel doubled between 2002 and 2006 (AMDEA, 2008), thus increasing the profitability of recycling relatively low-price goods having good metallic content. The authors’ interviews of major domestic appliance manufacturers, such as LEC Refrigeration and Merloni, indicate that the remanufacturing of domestic appliances is costprohibitivedat least within the EU. The main reason is the cost of the manual
9.3 Industry sector-specific example: refurbishment of computers 269
labor involved in remanufacturing as well as costs for things such as testing to safety standards. Such tests are expensive to run, and though their costs in new manufacture can be limited by running them in batches, in remanufacturing the tests must be undertaken individually.
9.3 INDUSTRY SECTOR-SPECIFIC EXAMPLE: REFURBISHMENT OF COMPUTERS The refurbishment of computers and other office products such as printers has been occurring for more than 20 years and was led not by the original manufacturers but by independent specialists who identified a commercial opportunity. Most manufacturers still do not address this as a priority in serving their customers or the market, and so the naturally occurring demand is still mainly satisfied by independent providers. The rework of computers and printing products can be broadly grouped into three categories; repaired, refurbished, and remanufactured. A growing number of manufacturers have now implemented processes to provide used equipment to their customers, with some utilizing their in-house capabilities and others engaging independent specialists as service providers. In the absence of legislation and standards, accepted practices will vary among used equipment providers (be they manufacturers or specialists), but the following descriptions provide a guide to product expectations within the three categories of the IT market sector as observed by the authors.
9.3.1 Repair The act of fixing or correcting a fault, a defect, or damage is called a repair. An electrical or mechanical repair brings a product back to a functional working state, whereas a cosmetic repair restores a product that has minor exterior surface damage and/or blemishes (such as scratches, dents, cracks, and chipping). A product can be repaired in the field by a service technician or by a dedicated service or repair facility at the manufacturer or specialist. Testing is performed only to ensure that the repair did in fact eliminate or fix the specific identified defect. Repairs are inherent activities in the more extensive processes of refurbishment and remanufacturing.
9.3.2 Refurbishment One of the two processes most associated with reused products, refurbishment provides a cleaned and repaired product in full working order with minimal or no visual flaws. Unlike a field repair or upgrade (see discussion below), refurbishment is performed in a factory setting with operational
270 CHAPTER 9 Refurbishment and reuse of waste electrical and electronic equipment
specifications where a more expanded tool set, cleaning solutions, solvents, paints, and other surface treatment capabilities are involved. Upgrade here describes returning a used product to a greater performance or quality standard than it had when new. While the refurbishment process does not seek to increase the product’s original manufactured capability, higher-capacity components may be added if original parts are no longer available or if later higher-capacity parts are of comparable cost. A refurbished product generally carries a limited warranty dependent upon the supplier (original manufacturer or independent specialist), age of product, and price charged.
9.3.3 Remanufacture Remanufacturing is more complex than refurbishment; it is a detailed and comprehensive disassembly and reassembly process that brings a used product back to at least its specified state as original equipment. Dependent upon the processes of the remanufacturer (whether original manufacturer or independent specialist), the disassembly process can preserve the identity of the original product (via its serial number), or a completely new system identity can be created (supported by a new serial number). Remanufacture includes the thorough cleaning, testing, and diagnosis of all the disassembled parts. Dependent upon commercial viability, the worn, failing, and obsolete components are either repaired or replaced. Repairs to components and subassemblies may be carried out by the remanufacturer or sent to product specialists. Upgrades to hardware parts are also provided where commercially viable, and software and firmware engineering changes developed since the product was introduced are also included in the remanufacturing process. Remanufacturing is performed in a factory setting with supporting tool and test sets equivalent to those used in current production with instructions contained in floor-controlled process documentation. As products are completely disassembled, original factory settings can be reset or adjusted. New features and upgrades can be added so that products share the latest technology that is available with current production models. Remanufactured products can thus have capabilities equivalent to current production models, are tested to the same levels, and are generally sold on an “as-new” basis with a comprehensive or as-new warranty. It should be noted that the accepted industry term for remanufacturing in IT is more akin to rebuild, as very little is actually remanufactured in the same way that a component is originally manufactured. Most computer and printer suppliers will use specialist manufacturers for the fabrication of
9.4 Role of the third sector 271
key components and subassemblies (such as CPUs, memory chips, and optical and hard disk drives), and the cost of replacement with a current production part is generally less than the cost of trying to repair the older failed product. The labor cost to determine a fault and then repair and test it generally outweighs the cost of quickly replacing it with a new (and often upgraded) component. Most manufacturers will also not invest in a specific element of a production process to handle such repaired products, as the economies of scale are inferior to the high throughput of new manufactured parts. Thus the most common solution is that of replacement for a part or subassembly.
9.3.4 Upgrade A repair can be a part of a refurbishment or remanufacturing process, as can an upgrade. Upgrades can be developed to fix customer satisfaction issues or be planned events in the product life cycle, especially where that product is complex and designed for extended life. An upgrade generally enhances or improves the performance of a product by increasing its function or capacity and involves the substitution, replacement, or addition of components (hardware) or applications (software) to increase a product’s original capability. As with a repair, testing is limited and only to ensure that the upgrade was installed correctly and is working properly. Some upgrades may increase a product’s capability beyond its technology level when originally manufactured, whereas others can improve a product’s capability to that of the latest production performance. This is based on the forward compatibility of a product, which is dependent upon functional flexibility in design and manufacture that provides the ability to enhance a product throughout its life cycle. Upgrades can also result from a lack of availability of the original component, and thus both repairs and refurbishment can contain upgrades through lack of choice.
9.4 ROLE OF THE THIRD SECTOR Although secondary market processing, particularly remanufacturing of domestic appliances, may not be justifiable on environmental or profitability grounds, it may be justifiable in terms of its societal benefits, for example by addressing poverty, unemployment, or lack of skills. The great decision
272 CHAPTER 9 Refurbishment and reuse of waste electrical and electronic equipment
to be made in considering secondary market processing of certain product types such as domestic appliances is whether their environmental and profitability disadvantages can be offset by their immense societal benefits plus the environmental benefits of reworking products from other sectors. It could be that the positive societal impacts outweigh the environmental disadvantages. The societal benefits of secondary market processes include employment creation, creation of a living for the local community and for people selling secondhand goods, provision of goods for poor people who would otherwise not be able to afford them, and provision of training for low-skilled and unskilled labor. The societal benefits of secondary market processes can be illustrated through the work of EMMAUS, a Catholic charity for the homeless (www.emmaus.org.uk). EMMAUS takes donated products requiring rework and helps homeless people rework the products under supervision. This arrangement has several key benefits: n
n
n n n
The homeless benefit by having a roof over their heads, paid employment, confidence, and new skills to help them start again. EMMAUS benefits by using the excess profits to continue their various charitable causes. Employment is created for the technician supervising the ex-homeless. Poor people benefit because they can afford to purchase goods. Employment is created.
9.5 ISSUES IN WASTE ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT REFURBISHMENT AND REUSE 9.5.1 Variability in standards and quality of refurbishment and reused products The authors’ observations and work within industry indicate that in contrast to the handling of products once they have reached the end of their usable lives, no current legislation in the EU or other developed economies and regions directs the reuse of computer equipment through refurbishment or remanufacturing. Existing WEEE legislation covers the responsibilities and requirements for the effective treatment of products once they are defined as waste, but as yet there is nothing to guide users and manufacturers on reuse or extended use. Without legislation, there is little framework for industry standards, and with the majority of refurbishment in the hands of independent specialists, there are variations in the levels of rework and the quality of output. Being commercially driven, independent providers will generally seek the most cost-effective options to return a system to a working order such that it
9.5 Issues in waste electrical and electronic equipment refurbishment and reuse 273
may benefit from a second productive life, and so market offerings become variable and complex. Some industry associations that represent both manufacturers and independent providers have attempted to clarify equipment rework processes through the creation of definitions, but as yet these have not been developed into recognized national or international standards that can be independently audited to provide recognized levels of accreditation.
9.5.2 Quality criteria for reuse and accreditation for reuse centers As previously stated, there is little regulation in the area of reused IT, and thus the standards and quality levels across providers to the used IT market vary widely. The clearest current control is legislation over the sale of goods, in that a product may not be misrepresented and must be fit for purpose and as described. Thus most products offered for sale are merely described as “used” without any further clarification. Some manufacturers may further differentiate their offerings by describing their products as ex-demonstration, ex-fair, ex-loan, ex-rental, etc. This typically applies to newer used equipment that is less than 12 months old. Occasionally some manufacturers will sell off excess new-product inventory or overstock through their used product channels at lower prices, even if unopened and in new condition. Most manufacturers and larger independent providers identify their product rework processes with other business accreditations held, such as international ISO or CEN standards or standards from national bodies such as BSI and DIN. In the United Kingdom, BSI has provided a standard that in part covers the definitions and procedures for the reuse and resale of used IT equipment in BS 8887 (BSI, 2009). This standard has the acronym MADE, for manufacture for assembly, disassembly, and end of life (EoL). Within some subparts in part 2 of BS 8887 are process descriptions for rework levels and the reoffering of such equipment back to the market. At present this standard serves as a voluntary guide to the industry with no certification or accreditation process yet in place to confirm correct practice by a provider (be they manufacturer or independent). Many providers of used equipment also have a waste treatment license for their rework facilities to ensure compliance with legislation for the correct disposal of waste created in rework processes. As with some repair work, some used equipment providers may subcontract this recycling work to third-party specialists.
274 CHAPTER 9 Refurbishment and reuse of waste electrical and electronic equipment
9.5.3 Design issues in remanufacturing Optimizing reuse and refurbishment would require changes to design methods because design is the stage of the product life cycle that has the strongest influence on environmental impacts (Graedel and Allenby, 1995) and also sets product capabilities. This would initially raise product prices and thus would be initially costly, but would lead to long-term profitability, especially given increases in waste disposal costs and other environmental legislation. A key problem here is designers’ lack of expertise in designing products for reuse (see, for example, Ijomah et al., 2007a). As extensively discussed by Ijomah et al. (2007b), a key issue in designing products for reuse is avoiding features that prevent the product or component from being brought back to at least like-new functionality. These include: n
n
n
nondurable material that may lead to breakage during refurbishment (manufacturing, repair, or reconditioning) or deterioration during use to the extent that the product is beyond “refurbishment”; joining technologies that prevent the separation of components or are likely to lead to component damage during separation; for instance, epoxy resin adhesive bonding may be used to facilitate rapid assembly but hinders disassembly without damage resulting in even greater refurbishment and reuse requirements; features that require banned substances or processing methods or that may make returning to functionality cost-prohibitive.
However, many key determinants of the potential for refurbishment and reuse fall outside the designer’s control. These include legislation, demand, fashion, and manufacturers’ prohibitive practices. Legislation can have a positive impact because it requires organizations to undertake addedvalue recovery of their products and makes waste disposal increasingly more expensive. This may encourage manufacturers to design refurbishable products. However, when legislation bans the use of a substance, products containing it cannot be reintroduced to the market and hence would not be reused. Refurbishment and reuse are appropriate only where there is a market for the reworked product. Thus fashion-affected products are inappropriate because users may prefer the newer product no matter the quality and cost of the refurbished alternative. Some customers demand newness as a lifestyle choice, and thus some productsdespecially those with a relatively low initial financial outlay or in prominent locations within homesdare generally less amenable to profitable refurbishment and reuse. Manufacturers’ prohibitive practices such as patents, intellectual property rights, and anticompetitive manufacturing also hinder refurbishment and reuse. For example, some printer manufacturers have designed their inkjet
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cartridges so that they self-destruct when empty, thus preventing their remanufacture. However, if there are no old products to cannibalize, good parts cannot be obtained from existing used products, or the technology for producing new parts becomes obsolete, product refurbishment is no longer possible.
9.5.4 Paradigm shifts affecting the use of refurbishment and reuse Traditionally, safety, performance, and cost are the key considerations in manufacturing decisions. However, changing global and business circumstances are forcing organizations to reanalyze their strategic decisions so that additional factors such as raw material costs and environmental legislation are also considered design and manufacturing decisions. This is leading to paradigm shifts that affect reuse and refurbishment. Two key ones here are the move from product sale to the sale of capability (the move to “product-service” systems; Ijomah et al., 2007b; Ijomah, 2009; Sundin et al., 2009) and the move by some companies away from manufacturing to assembly or bought-out parts. Regarding the first, manufacturers have traditionally transferred their product ownership to customers at sale. Today some manufacturers are opting to keep ownership of their product and instead sell the product’s capability to the customerdan example being “power-by-the-hour” in the aerospace industry. The manufacturer acts as a service provider and takes any risks associated with the product’s failure. As the customer purchases only the guarantee of provision of capability, the focus changes to the customer’s satisfaction with the capability provided, and the issue of the product’s newness (number of life cycles) becomes less important. Refurbishment and reuse reduce the costs to the organization of adopting the service business model; for example, maintenance costs are reduced through the use of refurbished and reused components, and remanufactured or refurbished whole engines can be used in place of more expensive all-new engines. In the latter case, to save costs some producers now purchase components from countries with lower labor costs and simply assemble these parts. This is leading to a loss of the practical engineering skills required for remanufacture.
9.5.5 Availability of information on product components, materials, and repair methods There is a clear difference here between the position of the original manufacturer and the independent specialist refurbishment provider. The original manufacturer will have access to all the original manufacturing information as well as subsequent engineering changes throughout the product’s
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production run (covering hardware, firmware, and software). Most manufacturers provide a dedicated production line or bench areas for rework to maintain a single focus for the production of new products, but some companies (such as Ricoh with its printers) run their reworked products for reassembly down the same production lines as new products. Necessary comprehensive information is generally provided by the manufacturer should it outsource the rework to a contracted service provider, who may operate on-site at the manufacturer’s location(s) or at its own off-site location(s). The manufacturer will also have access to spare parts holdings and the original component suppliers as well as the supply of newer and current parts to upgrade products that are reworked. Independent specialist refurbishers have greater challenges in rework, as they operate without the authority of the original manufacturer. They do not have access to process data and component suppliers and thus must achieve their comparative operational capabilities in other ways. Required components are purchased from the open market in either new or used condition, and sometimes directly from authorized and independent maintenance providers or the manufacturer’s own distribution or channel partners. In some instances complete systems will be purchased for spare parts harvesting to enable component replacement in products being reworked. Product knowledge and expertise is acquired through the hiring of staff who are former employees of the original manufacturer or its authorized sales and service partners. Owing to the range in size of independent specialists, rework capabilities vary in terms of process scale and depth, but even larger independents cannot invest to completely replicate the original manufacturer’s production or rework environments. The methods of repair and rework will be broadly similar among the manufacturer, authorized agent, and independent specialistdto test the product, rework to the required level, and make ready for reuse. Independent specialists will generally take the most cost-effective route to bringing a used product back to a repaired or refurbished working condition, whereas the manufacturer may choose to invest more in rework time and cost to provide a premium-standard used product with a commensurate warranty. All parties employ decision processes that assess the product to be reworked at various stages to ensure that the level of rework chosen enables viable resale at a profit and not a loss. Some manufacturers will not target high profit in the resale of used equipment, as they are keen to make the offering
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as competitive as possible against independent suppliers, and support their customer as more of a service in this area.
9.6 FUTURE TRENDS Interest in used equipment is likely to increase as demand for sustainability and responsibility in product manufacturing continues to grow. Manufacturers are focused on continual improvement for their new products, principally to ensure commercial success and survival, and they continue to develop greener products that have lower carbon impacts in use and higher raw materials recovery when recycled at EoL. Additional focus is now being placed on design-for-disassembly, originally intended to reduce costs as products were dismantled into their major materials groups for recycling (plastics, metals, precious metals, etc.). The design-for-disassembly approach also facilitates rework activities by making component and subassembly exchange quicker and easier, for example through the use of plastic clips as opposed to parts that are screwed in place with metal screws. For those manufacturers actively engaged in providing used equipment, such activities continue to be a small single-digit percentage of their overall hardware sales revenues, and sometimes only a fraction of a single percent. Niche activities not offering economies of scale are therefore not a priority. Thus focus and attention in the competitive area remains on designing and manufacturing ever-better new products, with future attention to reworked product likely to be driven by only four main factors.
9.6.1 Legislation As with WEEE legislation in the EU, manufacturers will only act (and incur costs) if required to maintain compliance with legislation. At present the WEEE legislation only covers responsibilities for electrical and electronic equipment at the point when it is declared and treated as waste, but future extensions to this legislation could move into the part of the product life cycle immediately preceding this point, when equipment is used or reused. Reused electrical and electronic equipment legislation could provide targets for manufacturers to ensure a contribution toward raw materials sustainability through the reuse or extended use of previously manufactured products.
9.6.2 Customer demand Existing demand for reused IT equipment is driven by three main factors, some of which may develop further into stronger reasons to deploy such products.
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Used equipment offers an attractive proposition for customers who are limited to a lower price point than that of new equipment. Similar to buying a used car, a larger or better-equipped product can be acquired for the same investment needed to buy an inferior-standard new product. In challenging and competitive economic times, this option becomes more attractive. Support and maintenance costs are important factors in the total cost of ownership of IT equipment, and these can be contained by maintaining a homogeneous environment where all products are the same. Supporting a common platform reduces the need for staff training, repair tools, and spare parts inventories and also provides a stable platform for deployed applications, making the role of software support engineers more straightforward. Thus the choice to purchase used equipment is based on the need to consume more of what the customer already has and provides additional required capacity by acquiring previous-generation technology that matches the existing infrastructure. Hardware life cycles and innovations are now deployed faster than software developments, and thus applications may continue to run just as effectively on previous-generation technology and display no benefit when run on the latest systems. Thus a perception of “good enough computing” is developing, where a more cost-effective solution can be applied to a business need without business performance and efficiency impacts.
Combining these three existing elements delivers compelling solutions for some customers, and all potentially could become of greater interest to the market in the future. As well as seeking to lead the market through product improvement and innovation, most manufacturers will also respond to qualified and substantive customer demand, especially if a trend is identified. Should the market continue to develop an interest in “green” or sustainable products, greater attention may be given to reworked product offerings. Many companies seek to demonstrate their green credentials to customers and stakeholders through efficient practices and responsible procurement; thus the purchase of recycled products such as pens, paper, and furniture could also be extended to electronic products to demonstrate a green contribution toward materials sustainability. Should this area of demand establish a long-term niche in the market, many manufacturers may respond by devoting more attention and resources to this area.
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9.6.3 Cost savings Competitiveness in the marketplace drives all suppliers to seek cost savings in all aspects of their business, and if market demand for reused equipment were to develop, thus allowing for greater economies of scale, manufacturers may perceive that an economic advantage can be realized in the area of providing reworked products. Being able to sell the same product twice, with a smaller investment through rework compared with the costs of new manufacture, may become a more interesting business case that manufacturers will respond to in the future.
9.6.4 Competition Not many manufacturers will lead as strongly or independently as Apple, and most will tend to deliver evolution more than innovation in IT product offerings. Following an innovator, one or two first movers will lead the market, after which the rest will be drawn to follow to ensure that they do not suffer a comparative or competitive disadvantage against the competition. Thus if a number of manufacturers drive more focus and attention to the reused equipment market based on any factor above, others will be prompted to follow suit. Another factor that may attract more interest in reused IT equipment in the future is diminishing returns from energy efficiency. Market offerings now include products that draw zero watts of electricity in standby mode, which cannot be improved upon. Products are also drawing less energy when in operation, but the comparative savings are reducing over time. Thus in the near future, products returning to market as reused will not be as inefficient as those in the past, and as the greater carbon impact is in the use of a system (compared with manufacture), the differential between new and used systems in this respect is narrowing.
9.6.5 New technologies The remanufacture of small-sized WEEE products at EoL is not typically profitable, as their volatile technological pace and small size make their disassembly by conventional means overly expensive. The high cost of manual disassembly (potentially worsened by a design that unintentionally or sometimes intentionally makes it more difficult) can result in a low return on investment for remanufacturing the product. This stops businesses from engaging in remanufacturing and so prevents business and the environment from benefiting from this more sustainable production technique. “Active disassembly” (AD) is an alternative to conventional dismantling techniques
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that enables the nondestructive self-disassembly of a wide variety of consumer electronics on the same generic dismantling line, thus reducing disassembly cost (Chiodo and Boks, 2002). AD is an alternative to conventional dismantling that can remove the barrier of expensive manual disassembly. AD enables cost-effective, nondestructive self-disassembly for a wide variety of WEEE and is particularly suited to high-value consumer electronics. Furthermore, AD can be carried out for different products on the same dismantling line, thereby exponentially reducing disassembly costs. The AD technique has been applied to a variety of electronic products since the 1990s (for example, Chiodo et al., 1997; Masui et al., 1999; Nishiwaki et al., 2000; Li et al., 2001; Braunschweig, 2004; Jones et al., 2004; Klett and Blessing, 2004; Duflou et al., 2007), but AD was originally designed with the intension of reducing disassembly costs in recycling. However, work is now being undertaken to use AD to extend profitable remanufacturing to small-sized WEEE, an area where disassembly cost has traditionally made remanufacturing economically unviable (see, for example, Ijomah and Chiodo, 2010).
9.7 SUMMARY OF WASTE ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONIC EQUIPMENT REUSE AND REFURBISHMENT Within manufacturing, the need for sustainable development is being addressed by promoting the reuse processes (recycling, repair, reconditioning, and remanufacturing). There is an urgent need to advance the reuse and refurbishment of EoL WEEE over most other solid waste categories because of its greater adverse environmental impacts plus rapidly increasing quantities. Currently, legislation regarding WEEE is inadequate, leading to disparity in the standards and quality of reworked products as well as poor customer perception and snobbery against them. For example, refurbished computer and printing equipment is generally presented back to the market as “used,” but there is rarely any description regarding the extent of rework carried out to present the product in full working order for its next life cycle. In the absence of any legislative requirements, neither manufacturers nor independent specialists will reveal the history of a product and any faults or failings previously experienced. The focus is on the provision of a working system at a competitive price compared with a new product, underpinned by a limited level of warranty generally related to the level of rework and price. Other issues in WEEE reuse and refurbishment include original equipment manufacturers’ actions to prevent refurbishment (e.g., individual producer responsibility), legislation, and poor expertise in design-for-reuse. Reuse and refurbishment are being affected by industry paradigm shifts. The
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key ones are manufacturers moving from a product sale to service sale business model and from manufacturing and assembly to assembly only. The former favors refurbishment and reuse by reducing customer demand for newness in the products they use. The latter hinders refurbishment and reuse due to loss of the practical engineering skills required.
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