Integrated approaches for remanufacturing (Made in Europe Partnership) (IA)

The manufacturing industry should achieve the following by the end of the projects:

• An industrial ecosystem capable of doubling the volume of remanufactured components in the EU (vs. 2021 baselines) for targeted sectors and products;

• New synergies and business models promoting circularity in manufacturing industries;

• Significantly enhanced European capacity to implement remanufacturing technologies for retaining, reusing, upgrading or adapting product and component functions;

• Strengthened skills and education capabilities tailored to remanufacturing needs across the value chain;

• Development, adoption or revision of standards to better support remanufacturing practices.
These outcomes should also deliver benefits for downstream applications in net-zero industries by reducing resource consumption, lowering carbon footprints and increasing industrial resilience.

Proposals must address all of the following and remain within the defined scope (recycling for secondary raw materials is excluded):

• Cutting-edge remanufacturing technologies and processes or system engineering, building on data sharing and AI;

• Mass de-manufacturing techniques (disassembly, separation, sorting);

• Capability to produce high-quality products from mixed inputs (new, reused, repaired, remanufactured components and materials);

• Decision-support methodologies for end-of-use and end-of-life choices at component or system level;

• Measurement, verification and inspection approaches for quality assurance, traceability and standards compliance;

• Robust data sourcing, interoperability, processing and AI solutions leveraging existing ontologies and FAIR data principles;

• Engagement with and contribution to international remanufacturing standards;

• Definition and testing of new skill sets required for European remanufacturing uptake;

• For proposals developing new products: product design for circularity (prioritised recyclable/reusable materials and components, modularity, adaptability, exchangeability, extended lifetime).
Proposals should also consider where relevant:

• The EU regulatory framework (Ecodesign for Sustainable Product Regulation, waste/sectoral legislation);

• The circular-by-design Ecodesign approach (modularity, repairability, adaptability, exchangeability, refurbishment, repurposing);

• The Digital Product Passport (lifecycle information collection and use across remanufacturing operations);

• Inclusion of a robust business case and exploitation strategy (covering logistics, circularity, decarbonisation, economic viability, competitiveness and lifecycle performance metrics);

• Synergies or collaboration with existing or past projects, the Digital Europe programme and other funding schemes;

• Contributions from Social Sciences and Humanities and, where appropriate, social partners or social innovation;

• Opportunities for international cooperation, notably with Japan or Taiwan.