Towards circular economy via eco-design and sustainable remanufacturing

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Main objectives of the project: The project will strengthen the region’s economy and increase the cross-border trade, export and internationalisation of the region’s SMEs through the new business opportunities offered by a circular economy. By identifying products that have great potential for eco-design, developing circular business models and utilising advanced additive manufacturing processes in various case studies, the project will demonstrate opportunities for remanufacturing that in turn will contribute to an increased proportion of companies exporting circular products. Expected results The project will help ensure that the remanufacturing processes, services and products developed after the project can be applied in the company’s production so that: — The number of innovative companies working with circular economy is increasing — Export and internationalisation of the region’s SMEs are increasing — Enterprise production is improving and competitiveness is improving — Energy and raw materials in production decrease Project description The so-called ‘produced-use-long’ model is common practice in small and medium-sized enterprises that have not yet started to apply environmentally friendly and sustainable methods. In large companies, on the other hand, sustainable development is associated with the company’s values, methods and reputation. Part of the circular economy is remanufacturing, which involves an industrial process in which used products or components are restored to become new. Remanufacturing can save resources, raw materials and energy as well as work invested in the product. The methods used today for remanufacturing mean that the worn component’s original dimensions are restored by adding materials to the worn area. This is often done manually with traditional arc welding processes where the heat supply to the product is high, productivity is low and the quality is uneven. Using more developed methods, such as laser surface coating, CMT coating and automation can significantly increase the quality and productivity of remanufacturing. In the heavy industry, there is a desire to move from the ‘produce, used and discard’ concept to a more circular economy where materials and components are remanufactured using additive methods. A paradigm shift will thus take place and for this to be possible, specialised SMEs are needed to remanufacturise the basic industry using new surface treatment technologies. Since new methods are involved, development work, tests, demonstrations and simulations are required to prove that the methods benefit both SMEs and the basic industry. In many cases, completely new business models need to be developed in order to make the transition to a circular economy possible. Those SMEs that choose to move to the circular economy must specialise in a certain surface treatment method due to major investments in development work and machinery fleet. Through the project, participating companies gain improved knowledge of the possibilities and methods for repairing and remanufacturing components in a cost-effective way. The project is aimed at the target group SMEs, which are OEMs and external service providers in the metal and process industries, the energy industry, the mining and wood processing industry and the transport industry. Centria AMK and Tampere University of Technology have experience in research and development of various and coating methods and LTU has experience in laser processing methods. The project will thus combine knowledge that does not exist in a single country into a cross-border cooperation.

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