{"id":14458,"date":"2026-09-16T09:25:11","date_gmt":"2026-09-16T07:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/insights.ieseg.fr\/?p=14458"},"modified":"2026-09-16T10:38:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-16T08:38:23","slug":"remanufacturing-recycling","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/insights.ieseg.fr\/en\/resource-center\/operations-en\/remanufacturing-recycling\/","title":{"rendered":"Remanufacturing vs recycling: should companies restore old products or create new materials?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Growing environmental concerns, stricter regulations, and competitive pressure are driving companies everywhere to adopt product recovery strategies<\/a>. These include both remanufacturing<\/a>\u2014 restoring used products to a like-new condition\u2014and recycling\u2014transforming old products into new materials.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Companies regularly reassess the emphasis they place on recycling and remanufacturing<\/em> in their recovery strategies. For example, printing specialist Xerox has prioritized the recycling of solid waste. However, the share of remanufacturing increased from 11% to 15% between 2020<\/a> and 2021<\/a>, while recycling declined from 74% to 69%, before returning to 6% remanufacturing and 81% recycling in 2024<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The automotive group Stellantis<\/a>, which prioritized remanufacturing, has shifted its strategy toward recycling. The share of recycling for its batteries rose from 28.9% to 43.4% between 2022 and 2023, while the share of remanufacturing<\/em> declined from 45.6% to 38.1%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The goal of our research<\/a> is to help companies build a product recovery strategy that is consistent and resilient over time, to avoid switching back and forth between remanufacturing<\/em> and recycling driven by short-term constraints.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did we identify this optimal strategy?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Our study proposes an optimization model to identify the most profitable recovery strategies for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), which compete with independent remanufacturers. Despite its industrial importance, this economic setting remains understudied. To achieve this, we identified ten possible strategies that range from no product recovery to complete recovery.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Product recovery strategies (recycling and remanufacturing<\/em>). Author provided (no reuse)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The figure illustrates the ten product recovery strategies (recycling and remanufacturing<\/em>) for a given set of parameter values.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Such competition already exists in the automotive sector, where several independent remanufacturers are active in the market. Companies such as Terrepower<\/a> and Borg Automotive<\/a> compete with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) like Valeo<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

OEMs and independent remanufacturers each decide how many used products to recover. Independent remanufacturers use recovered products for remanufacturing<\/em>, while original equipment manufacturers can opt for either remanufacturing<\/em>, recycling, or a combination of the two. The optimal choice depends on competition, costs, and demand.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, independent remanufacturers enter the market only if the cost of remanufacturing is below a critical threshold. Companies can identify the most appropriate strategy by varying:<\/p>\n\n\n\n