Member Article

New report calls on Government to back ‘March of the Re-Makers’

A new independent report warns that the UK is failing to capitalise on huge potential economic and environmental advantages presented by improved remanufacturing standards and practices.

The report, published by the All-Party Parliamentary Sustainable Resource Group, follows a three-month inquiry chaired by former environment secretary Rt Hon Caroline Spelman MP.

The publication calls on government to take urgent steps to improve UK remanufacturing, including the adoption of an agreed definition, the setting of key criteria for analysing remanufacturing potential across different UK industries and the establishment of a government fund to explore currently under-remanufactured industries.

It further calls for the removal of key regulatory barriers preventing remanufacturing uptake, including amendments to its Guidance on the Legal Definition of Waste to distinguish a product that is due to be remanufactured as being exempt from those products considered as waste.

The report highlights two case studies of current best practice in remanufacturing and makes more than half a dozen recommendations designed to ensure the UK maximizes its full economic and environmental potential:

Speaking ahead of the launch, the Rt Hon Caroline Spelman MP commented: “The renaissance of British manufacturing has created an outstanding opportunity for remanufacturing in the UK. But the full potential has not yet nearly been realised. The Government must act now to ensure the UK does not lag further behind in the rapidly growing global remanufacturing industry.

“This report lays out clear guidelines for how government can put remanufacturing firmly on a growth trajectory: the lifting of regulatory barriers, the establishment of remanufacturing Centres of Excellence , the creation of a cross-departmental Committee on remanufacturing, a Government fund to support research and more. We urge the government to do more to exploit the huge economic and environmental potential that remanufacturing presents”.

Commenting on the report, Julie Madigan, Chief Executive of The Manufacturing Institute and Advisory Group Member of the All Party Parliamentary Manufacturing Group, added: “As an island with finite resources, it’s critical that the UK catches up with the global trend towards remanufacturing. We are missing out on huge economic and environmental benefits by failing to capitalise fully on this opportunity. It is important that the government creates policy measures to accelerate the growth of remanufacturing.”

Evidence outlined in the report shows that remanufacturing uses 85% less energy than manufacturing, equating to a saving of over 10 million barrels of crude oil. The United States is currently the largest remanufacturer in the world, with a remanufacturing sector valued at $43 billion, employing over 180,000 people.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by The Manufacturing Institute .