Nick Morley, Director of Sustainable Innovation at Oakdene Hollins, discussed remanufacturing at a webinar on waste prevention.
CRR reported that the webinar, which was held in early December, took place ahead of the UK government’s plans to publish a new Waste Prevention Programme this December; with the webinar focusing on how the private, public and third sector can work to effectively reduce waste and increase reuse whilst gaining financial and environmental benefits.
Among those speaking in the webinar was Nick Morley, who founded Oakdene Hollins, a research and consulting firm focused on remanufacturing in 1997 and helped to establish the Centre for Remanufacturing and Reuse (CRR) in 2007.
Morley presented a range of successful private sector remanufacturing, repair and refurbishment business models and discussed where they are going; as well as explaining the commercial and environmental issues surrounding remanufacturing and how lower costs, together with lower environmental impacts, can be achieved.
A five-step hierarchy of waste management options, applicable to all EU Member States, has been laid down by the Waste Framework Directive; including waste prevention, preparing for reuse, recycling, recovery and safe disposal (as a last resort).
The article adds that “waste prevention and reuse involves behaviour change from all involved in the supply chain, from manufacturers to end users”, noting that “less waste means less collections and treatment infrastructure”, which in turn “reduced the financial strain on cash-strapped councils, and increases the financial benefit to private companies and the third sector”.
The Recycler reported in November on another webinar focused on remanufacturing, which aimed to promote remanufacturing as “a low risk source of additional profits” for businesses in the UK and was hosted by 2degrees.