- Automotive
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
- Automotive
Percentage of individual services
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
