Circular Economy – Closing the Loop for Supply-Critical Raw Materials

The approach of transforming the established linear flow of goods from raw material extraction through the production and use phase of a product to its final disposal into a closed loop is not new. However, circular products made from secondary raw materials, i.e. recycled materials, reprocessed or reused parts, are still unattractive to many companies today for cost reasons and thus of little relevance.

The strategic anchoring of secondary raw material quotas in product development, among other things, or the tightening of regulations lead our customers to ask how closed cycles can be designed for their products. The aim is, for example, to consolidate components made of valuable or supply-critical raw materials by means of appropriate reverse logistics, to feed them into the respective recycling processes, and to make the raw materials recovered in the process available again for the production of new parts.

In doing so, we can build on our expertise from past projects around the RE:USE, RE:MAN (remanufacturing) and RE:CYCLE strategies of complex products, where similar issues played a role again and again. In this context, remanufacturing and reuse, and thus a possible further product life, are always preferable to recycling as the last option.

In concrete terms, our tasks in such projects include the development of business and process models, the search for potential suppliers and partners, the creation of corresponding specifications and the selection of suitable products that are not only circular but also economical wherever possible.

Profile

Company size

Location

Germany

Period

6+ months

Branch

Percentage of individual services

reactive situation stabilization
holistic concept development
risk analysis production performance

Challenge

Complex target systems between regulatory and company requirements such as CO2 targets, secondary raw material quotas and business management

Volatile and difficult to forecast commodity prices

Limited number of partners due to new technologies in a dynamic market structure

Argumentation of not primarily contribution margin oriented measures towards controlling

Procedure

Identification of potential sources for end-of-life parts

Consolidation of the relevant regulatory requirements

Economic analysis and identification of sensitivities with regard to raw material price scenarios

Conceptual design and evaluation of possible process and business models

Support in conceptual design of contracting and cooperation models

Testing of possible solutions on the basis of pilot trials

Ramp up and implementation planning

Long-term resource planning

Results

Proof of the economic viability of a recycling loop based on concrete products with a perspective of strongly increasing volumes

Holistic concept for the management of materials in the cycle

Corporate resolution (at board level)

The project in detail

Project Highlights

Contributing to improving the sustainability of global supply chains

Interdepartmental project cooperation between development, purchasing and after sales

Requirement definition of an IT solution for raw material accounts for the cross-company transfer of raw material quantities

Participation in a European consortium for the standardization of cross-supply chain data exchange

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We look forward
to hearing from you.