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Waste is gold—so why do we only recycle 4.2 per cent?

Waste doesn’t disappear just because we throw it away. Yet almost nothing is recycled in Denmark, even though many worn-out products can in fact be turned into new business opportunities.

Professor Tim C. McAloone heads up the reManuFactory centre. It is located at DTU, funded by the Danish Industry Foundation, and is there to help companies start remanufacturing.

Wednesday 08 April 2026

Ulla Johanne Johansson

Professor Tim C. McAloone, who leads the national competence center for remanufacturing, reManuFactory, at DTU, explains how remanufacturing can strengthen the bottom line — and what obstacles are preventing more companies from getting started.

What are the benefits of remanufacturing? 

Considering that only a very small percentage of materials are recycled in Denmark, there is an untapped potential in recycling all or part of a worn product. Remanufacturing means that a product is repaired and updated to meet current requirements and regulations—as if it were a new product.

It is good for our planet. According to its own calculations, Danish BORG Automotive Reman, which remanufactures generators, AC compressors, and turbochargers for cars, for example, emits 60 per cent less CO2 and uses 42 per cent less energy than if its products were manufactured from virgin materials.

Experience from remanufacturers shows that the savings can also be good for the bottom line. For example, it is possible to save up to 50 per cent on production costs and 60 per cent on energy consumption compared to manufacturing new products.

So why do companies still produce new products?

It is cheaper to carry on producing new products—partly because we do not currently pay the real price for the virgin materials used. 

According to the International Monetary Fund, the market often ignores externalities—that is the costs that are not borne by the producer or the consumer, but by society as a whole. This includes pollution, damage to health, and loss of natural resources. The low cost of virgin raw materials does not reflect the environmental and social costs of extraction and processing. It undermines the competitiveness of recycled materials, which often bear the entire cost of collection, sorting, and reprocessing. 

To have a truly sustainable circular economy, the costs must be included in the raw material price. This will require political and economic reforms.

Facts

Benefits of remanufacturing

  1. Energy savings: Remanufacturing uses up to  85 per cent less energy than raw material production.
  2. Reduced material usage: Up to 80 per cent of the materials in the original product are reused, thus reducing the need for extracting new raw materials.
  3. Waste reduction: Remanufacturing can reduce the amount of landfill waste by up to 70 per cent, thus contributing significantly to reducing industrial waste.
  4. Economic impact: The remanufacturing industry supports over 450,000 jobs globally.
  5. Cost efficiency: Remanufactured products typically cost 30-50 per cent less than new products and are of the same quality.

Sources: UK Centre for Remanufacturing and Reuse, Remanufacturing Industries Council—Benefits of Remanufacturing

What are the obstacles to large-scale remanufacturing?

Several Danish manufacturing companies are already experimenting with remanufacturing, but primarily in the form of labour-intensive solutions. To reach industrial scale and be profitable, a high degree of automation is needed.

The production process must be able to handle, for example, the fact that products are returned in widely different conditions, variants, and with different types of damage. At the same time, it is crucial to ensure that enough products are returned for this process to profitable—for example through an efficient return flow of used products from all over the world.

There are also legal barriers. For instance, transporting virgin materials across the border is legal, but used components are considered waste, which is subject to completely different rules.

Many companies see the potential in remanufacturing, but integrating it into a classic linear production process can be challenging. Therefore, we cannot expect such a circular business model to just happen. It must be actively established in collaboration between research, industry, and the authorities.

Which products have the greatest potential?

High-value complex products. A classic example is a large gear in a wind turbine gearbox with two defective teeth. The rest of the component is intact and costly to produce and transport. Examples of complex products with high economic and intellectual value include hydraulic systems in construction equipment and aircraft engines, where design and materials are extremely specialized, but also MRI and CT scanners and surgical robots, industrial sensors, and control systems.

Who has succeeded in remanufacturing and what can we learn from them?

One example is Caterpillar, which manufactures industrial machinery. Caterpillar remanufactures products and offers the same warranty for remanufactured as for new products. The model is scalable and has their customers return used parts for a discount via a global network of dealers.

In the healthcare sector, GE HealthCare, which, among other things, remanufactures MRI and CT scanners, shows how remanufacturing can ensure access to advanced technology at a lower price without compromising on quality and safety. This could be a solution to budgetary challenges in the healthcare sector. 

How to make remanufacturing attractive to more companies?

It needs to be presented as a business case. It must be possible to scale the remanufacturing process, so that it does not just take place in a corner of the factory, and they must design their products and components with remanufacturing in mind. Glue, for example, makes it easy to assemble, but difficult to disassemble products for remanufacturing.

This is one of the things we need to help companies with in reManuFactory—the new remanufacturing centre.

Facts

About remanufacturing

The national knowledge and competence centre for remanufacturing, reManuFactory, helps Danish manufacturing companies transform worn-out products into new business—for the benefit of both their bottom line and the green transition. 

The centre helps companies test, implement, and scale remanufacturing of electronic and mechanical plastic and metal products and offers laboratory facilities[DRP9.1], research-based consultancy, and collaborative projects with both small and large companies.

Read more at: remanufactory.dtu.dk

What is the difference between refurbishing and remanufacturing?

  • Remanufacturing: Involves disassembling a product, cleaning it, inspecting it, machining worn and faulty components, and finally rebuilding it to a condition that is as good as new. A remanufactured product generally goes through the same process as a refurbished product, but it must be able to be approved as a new product according to the requirements and rules that apply today..
  • Refurbishing: A refurbished product is subject to the legislation in force at the time it was first placed on the market—also after being refurbished.  

Contact

Tim C. McAloone

Tim C. McAloone Head of Section, Professor Department of Civil and Mechanical Engineering Phone: +45 45256270