Remanufacturing can drive jobs, growth and sustainability
With global pressures on supply chains and raw material sourcing, seeking new ways to reuse automotive components and parts once they reach the end of their service life demands attention. That’s why this week SMMT published a new report into remanufacturing – the process of taking a used or worn part and restoring it to at least its original performance specifications. This sector already turns over half a billion pounds in the UK, covering alternators, braking systems, engines and much more. Given the opportunities available from the shift to electric vehicles, and the UK’s leadership position, the potential for our remanufacturing sector to deliver even greater economic and environmental benefits is significant.
EV components including batteries, battery management systems, inverters and motors can all be remanufactured, and doing so for just one EV battery can save more than a tonne of greenhouse gas emissions – not to mention reducing the need to extract virgin raw materials from the earth. The UK’s vehicle parc, meanwhile, is reaching record levels with 41 million on the road – still predominantly internal combustion engine powered – as owners are keeping their vehicles for longer, bringing additional opportunities for remanufacturing to support vehicles’ longer service life. We must, however, drive greater awareness across consumers, industry and government of the benefits of remanufacturing. Action to deliver a regulatory framework that promotes and enables it as part of the circular economy would help enormously, as would improved product design to facilitate ease of disassembly, reuse and recycling plus investment in skills.
The importance of recycling and reuse was but one topic on the agenda at this week’s SMMT Regional Forum – an annual event which is a key part our efforts to provide nationwide support, networking and business connections for members. This year’s event took place in Thame, with the South East one of the most important regions for our sector – supporting 17,000 jobs and building 120,000 cars last year. The event’s focus on how innovation, electrification and collaboration can reshape the industry could not be better timed as global investors decide where to design, engineer, build and deploy the next generation of cutting-edge electric, connected and automated vehicles.
On that front, there was a landmark announcement on Wednesday, signposting the arrival of self-driving cars in London next year. Waymo’s decision to choose London as the next city to benefit from these services reflects Britain’s ambition to have an advanced regulatory framework that will unlock the benefits of automated vehicles – safer roads, high-quality job creation, more efficient logistics and economic growth. This is exactly the type of news that proves Britain is still very much open for business.
Indeed, to help attract even more investment, SMMT this week delivered a successful trade mission to Alabama and Tennessee in the US, meeting key players, visiting manufacturing sites – including Nissan, Mazda and Toyota – and attending the Southern Automotive Conference. The UK-US trading relationship has always been strong and in-person missions such as this are critical for driving new business opportunities. With more key overseas visits coming thick and fast, including a supply chain-focused visit to the Czech Republic, find out more and get involved here.