A Review on the Lifecycle Strategies Enhancing Remanufacturing

Remanufacturing is a domain that has increasingly been exploited during recent years due to its numerous advantages and the increasing need for society to promote a circular economy leading to sustainability. Remanufacturing is one of the main end-of-life (EoL) options that can lead to a circular economy. There is therefore a strong need to prioritize this option over other available options at the end-of-life stage of a product because it is the only recovery option that maintains the same quality as that of a new product. This review focuses on the different lifecycle strategies that can help improve remanufacturing; in other words, the various strategies prior to, during or after the end-of-life of a product that can increase the chances of that product being remanufactured rather than being recycled or disposed of after its end-of-use. The emergence of the fourth industrial revolution, also known as industry 4.0 (I4.0), will help enhance data acquisition and sharing between different stages in the supply chain, as well boost smart remanufacturing techniques. This review examines how strategies like design for remanufacturing (DfRem), remaining useful life (RUL), product service system (PSS), closed-loop supply chain (CLSC), smart remanufacturing, EoL product collection and reverse logistics (RL) can enhance remanufacturing. We should bear in mind that not all products can be remanufactured, so other options are also considered. This review mainly focuses on products that can be remanufactured. For this review, we used 181 research papers from three databases; Science Direct, Web of Science and Scopus

The FiberEUse Demand-Driven, Cross-Sectorial, Circular Economy Approach

Composite materials are widely used in several industrial sectors such as wind energy, aeronautics, automotive, construction, boating, sports equipment, furniture and design. The ongoing increase in composites market size will result in relevant waste flows with related environmental issues and value losses if sustainable solutions for their post-use recovery and reuse are not developed and upscaled. The H2020 FiberEUse project aimed at the large-scale demonstration of new circular economy value-chains based on the reuse of End-of-Life fiber reinforced composites. The project showed the opportunities enabled by the creation of robust circular value-chains based on the implementation of a demand-driven, cross-sectorial circular economy approach, in which a material recovered from a sector is reused within high-added value products in different sectors. A holistic approach based on the synergic use of different hardware and digital enabling technologies, compounded by non-technological innovations, have been implemented to develop eight demonstrators grouped in three use cases, fostering different strategies. In particular, Use Case 1 focused on the mechanical recycling of short glass fibers, Use Case 2 on the thermal recycling of long fibers, while Use Case 3 focused on the inspection, repair and remanufacturing of carbon fiber reinforced plastics products and parts

Environmental Sustainability of Digitalization in Manufacturing: A Review

The rapid development and implementation of digitalization in manufacturing has enormous impact on the environment. It is still unclear whether digitalization has positive or negative environmental impact from applications in manufacturing. Therefore, this study aims to discuss the overall implications of digitalization on environmental sustainability through a literature study, within the scope of manufacturing (product design, production, transportation, and customer service). The analysis and categorization of selected articles resulted in two main findings: (1) Digitalization in manufacturing contributes positively to environmental sustainability by increasing resource and information efficiency as a result of applying Industry 4.0 technologies throughout the product lifecycle; (2) the negative environmental burden of digitalization is primarily due to increased resource and energy use, as well as waste and emissions from manufacturing, use, and disposal of the hardware (the technology lifecycle). Based on these findings, a lifecycle perspective is proposed, considering the environmental impacts from both the product and technology lifecycles. This study identified key implications of digitalization on environmental sustainability in manufacturing to increase awareness of both the positive and negative impacts of digitalization and thereby support decision making to invest in new digital technologies

Design for Disassembly: An Implementation of C2CAD Framework

Sustainability issues as related to the apparel industry are a relevant aspect of impact to consider. The repercussions of the apparel industry's actions are huge and have the potential to change into a responsible industry. The guidelines from McDonough and Braungart's "Cradle to Cradle" theory provides the path to sustainability. Although seemingly eco-friendly products are seen in the apparel market, the sustainability of these items must be seriously questioned. After initial market examination of complex apparel products currently available this designer noted the lack of true eco-effective apparel. Thus, the purpose is to develop a prototype disassemble-able man's jacket that can be an example of an eco-effective, complex garment that can be compatible with C2C concept of recycling. The objectives of this research are to: 1) Source and test components for sustainable apparel including, fabric: interfacing, thread, seams, stitches, closures, dyes and design for sustainability. 2) Evaluate and select appropriate components and combinations of components to construct a men's jacket as an example of sustainable disassembleable apparel product. 3) Design and construct a jacket adaptable to mass production. 4) Evaluate the performance, cost, and overall results of the jacket. 5) Revise and reevaluate jacket as needed. 6) Exhibit jacket, related design features, and textile test results. The prototype of a man's jacket was developed using the Cradle to Cradle theory utilizing both biological and technical nutrients in an effort to best demonstrate the design for disassembly process. The jacket separates utilizing buttons as a simple, cost effective option for disassembly. The jacket imitated mass production methods to ease the transition of the Cradle to Cradle concept into the industry. The test results were favorable and recommendations on continuing sustainability issue research were discussed.Department of Design, Housing and Merchandisin

Mending Broken Promises in Sustainable Design

Sustainable Product Design is effectively combining solutions that address environmental issues while elevating user experience and achieving success in the marketplace. A closer look at the effectiveness of sustainability strategies in the design process reveals that some of the best efforts in this area do not yield the benefits promised. Examples of these shortcomings include product operation with unnecessary features that push performance beyond environmentally friendly levels, products made out of recyclable materials that still end up in landfills and consumers that do not connect sustainable lifestyles to the products they use. An effective model for consistent benefits in sustainable product design begins with making the right choices for materials, processes and manufacturing so that products have an innately low environmental footprint. Then an understanding of the product lifecycle within a circular economy context ensures that steps such as recyclability and reuse are not ignored as products go through iterative cycles of fabrication, use and repurposing. Lastly, promoting positive user behavior so that products are enjoyable and meaningful enablers of short and long-term sustainable benefits. By having these strategies working together as a multi-layered approach, all stakeholders in a given product’s lifecycle will consistently make choices that result in sustainable advantages

Investigating the reverse supply chains of li-ion batteries in Finland

Abstract. Electric vehicles play a vital role in the electrification of transportation, and therefore in slowing down climate change. Hence, the number of electric vehicles has been on the rise globally. This has been made possible by major leaps in battery technology and the battery industry. The Finnish battery industry has also experienced growth, and Finland has set goals of becoming a major power in the entire value chain of the battery industry. However, the production of lithium-ion batteries for electric vehicles has involved environmental and ethical problems. The challenge of properly handling end-of-life batteries has only made the situation even more difficult. Due to these problems, the life cycle of these batteries is to be lengthened with the methods of circular economy, like reusing, refurbishing, and recycling. These would allow to form a closed-loop system. The concept that closes the circular economy loop is called reverse supply chain. In this bachelor’s thesis, the reverse supply chains of the Finnish battery industry are studied, their current capacity is determined, and their adequacy in the future is assessed. The used research methods are literature review and desk research. With these, literature from international sources on reverse supply chains of the battery industry are assessed and reflected on the situation in Finland. The study revealed that in Finland there is adequate recycling capacity now, and in the future. Despite this, Finland is not fully selfsufficient in recycling at the moment. The greatest shortcomings were found to be in battery reuse and repurposing. The main cause for this is due to the lack of economies of scale, since the number of end-of-life batteries is limited.Litiumioniakkujen paluulogistiikka Suomessa. Tiivistelmä. Sähköautot ovat tärkeässä roolissa liikenteen sähköistymisessä, ja samalla ilmastonmuutoksen hidastamisessa. Sähköautojen määrä onkin kasvussa maailmanlaajuisesti. Tämän ovat mahdollistaneet suuret harppaukset akkutekniikassa ja akkuteollisuudessa. Myös Suomen akkuteollisuus on suuressa kasvussa, ja Suomella onkin tavoitteena saavuttaa merkittävä asema koko akkuteollisuuden arvoketjussa. Kuitenkin sähköautojen litiumioniakkujen valmistukseen liittyy useita ympäristöllisiä ja eettisiä ongelmia, jotka tekevät yhtälöstä monimutkaisemman. Tilannetta vaikeuttaa myös akkujen käytöstä poistamiseen liittyvät haasteet. Näiden ongelmien vuoksi akkujen käyttöikää pyritään pidentämään kiertotalouden menetelmillä, kuten uudelleenkäytöllä, korjaamisella ja kierrättämisellä. Näin saadaan muodostettua suljetun tuotekierron järjestelmä. Käsitettä, joka sulkee kiertotalouden tuotekierron, kutsutaan paluulogistiikaksi. Tämä kandidaatintyö tutkii Suomen akkuteollisuuden paluulogistiikkaa, ja pyrkii selvittämään sen nykyisen tason, ja arvioimaan sen riittävyyttä tulevaisuudessa. Tutkimuksessa käytettään kirjallisuuskatsausta ja työpöytätutkimusta selvittämään tietoa kansainvälisistä lähteistä akkuteollisuuden paluulogistiikasta, ja vertaamalla tätä Suomen tilanteeseen. Tutkimuksessa selvisi, että akkujen kierrätykseen Suomessa on hyvät valmiudet nyt ja tulevaisuudessa. Tästä huolimatta Suomi ei ole tällä hetkellä täysin omavarainen kierrätyksessä. Akkujen uudelleenkäytössä ja kunnostuksessa on kiertotalouden menetelmistä eniten puutetta Suomessa. Suurin syy tähän on mittakaavaedun puute, sillä käytöstä poistuneita akkuja on tällä hetkellä liian vähän

Finding Perfection in Imperfection:: A Case Study of Adding Value by Design in Circular Economy

The United States' manufacturing industry generates approximately 7.6 billion tons of non- hazardous solid waste each year, a significant portion of which is either recyclable or reusable. Emerging ecosystem concepts such as cradle-to-cradle, design for disassembly, sustainable manufacturing, and most recently circular economy, are promoting the reusing or recycling of non-hazardous industrial waste. Empirical evidence suggests that there are significant economic, environmental, and social benefits to reusing industrial waste rather than recycling it. This paper presents, discusses and synthesis five speculative case studies in designing exterior building skins using standard automobile stamping by-products. The goal of the design experiment was to transform the linear approach in making building components, particularly, exterior metal skins and cladding systems, to a closed-loop approach, which ensures multi-dimensional economic, social, and environmental benefits. The results of the study are expected to aid in the reduction of energy used for extracting new materials and change the focus of the current waste management practices in the manufacturing industry from conventional recycling to creative reuse. The imperfection of the manufacturing industrial waste despite optimization measures, and the aging of zinc (patina) can both be transformed into novel unconventional architectural products

Analysis of embodied energy and product lifespan: the potential embodied power sustainability indicator

In the context of life cycle assessment sustainability indicators, this article proposes a new indicator that is related to the embodied energy, in order to assess the lifespan of products based on their components. The indicator, called 'potential embodied power' (PEP), considers that a non-replaceable component with a shorter lifespan will determine the lifetime of the product. The PEP indicator can be considered as an inherent property of the product, and it can be optimized by using a material selection method based on the concept of annualized embodied energy. This indicator can be used for product design decision making, since it determines the impact of product disposal in relation to the lifespan for which the product was designed. Also, a methodology is proposed to contribute to evaluating the environmental impact caused by the energy discarded resulting from the design decisions. A case study was performed on smartphones, and the results show that the variation of factors such as module lifespan or embodied energy allows achieving a lower value of the embodied power