The Development of Remanufacturing of Auto Parts Providing New Impetus

Recently, the National Development and Reform Commission issued the "14th Five-Year Plan for Circular Economy Development", which deployed five key projects and six key actions. Among them, the automotive industry has become a key focus area. Experts said that China has become the largest automobile production and sales for many years in the world. The ownership of cars has risen sharply and a large number of eliminated vehicles have provided abundant resources for the remanufacturing industry of auto parts. The 14th Five-Year Plan provides new impetus for the accelerated development of the remanufacturing industry of auto parts.
 
The development of the circular economy is a major strategy for China's economic and social development. The Plan proposes that by 2025, a resource recycling industry system will be established, covering the entire society. The resource use efficiency will be substantially improved. The replacement ratio of renewable resources to primary resources will be further increased, and  the supporting and guaranteeing role of the recycling economy to resources is becoming more obvious.
 
In order to achieve the above goals, the Plan focuses on key and difficult issues that need to be resolved in the field of circular economy, and deploys five key projects and six key actions, such as the recycling system of urban waste materials, development of recycling parks, demonstration of the resource utilization of construction waste, five key projects of key technology and equipment innovation for circular economy, high-quality development of the remanufacturing industry, recycling and utilization of waste electrical and electronic products, full life cycle management of automobile use, etc.
 
It is noteworthy that, in response to the promotion of the whole life cycle management of automobile use, the Plan proposes to study and formulate a whole life cycle management plan for automobile use, and builds a life cycle information interaction system for a comprehensive automobile use management plan covering automobile manufacturers, dealers, maintenance enterprises, recycling and dismantling enterprises. Strengthen the interconnection and mutual sharing of information such as manufacturing, import, sales, registration, maintenance, second-hand car transactions, and scrapping of automobiles. Establish a marking system and an information inquiry system for certified parts, remanufactured parts, and recycled appearance parts. Carry out pilot projects to extend the responsibility of auto producers. Select some regions to take the lead in carrying out the pilot project of the whole life cycle management of automobile use, and promote it to the whole country when the conditions permit.
 
An Wang, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering said that the transformation of renewable energy and the improvement of energy efficiency can only solve 55% of greenhouse gas emissions, and the remaining 45% of greenhouse gases come from the human daily life items, such as the manufacturing process of automobiles and other products according to estimates. The development of circular economy can effectively reduce greenhouse gas emissions in various value chains, realize the recycling of materials and products to save energy, and improve the carbon storage capacity of products. For example, in the industrial field, the circular economy promotes the recycling of raw materials, shortening the processing and manufacturing steps of the product, which can not only increase the resource output rate, but also reduce the energy use and emissions of carbon dioxide related to the manufacturing.
 
Experts said that the development of remanufacturing auto parts fits obtaining more, higher value-added, more sustainable products and services with less energy resource consumption and environmental emissions. Therefore, the release of the Plan will benefit auto parts remanufacturing companies a lot.
 
The market size is expanding.
Remanufacturing of auto parts is an important part of the remanufacturing industry. China's automobile production and sales have ranked first in the world for many years, and the continuous increase in automobile ownership has promoted the rapid expansion of the auto parts industry and the auto after-sales market. According to data released by the National Development and Reform Commission, the national automotive after-sales market will reach 1.6 trillion RMB in 2020, among which the after-sales maintenance market will be about 677 billion RMB. From the perspective of international development laws, remanufactured parts and components occupy an important position in the after-sales maintenance market. Remanufactured products in Europe and the United States account for more than 70% of the automotive after-sales market. China's auto parts remanufacturing industry has great room for development.
 
"The remanufacturing of auto parts is of great significance to energy saving and cost reduction in the auto industry." said Dongshu Cui, secretary general of the National Passenger Car Market Information Association. Remanufacturing of auto parts can recycle about 70% of the added value of scrapped products compared with traditional recycling and disposal methods of scrap metal. Remanufacturing can save 80% of energy consumption compared with the original manufacturing, saving more than 70% of materials, and reducing manufacturing costs by 30% to 50%. The adverse impact on the environment is obviously decreased compared with manufacturing new products.
 
Remanufacturing of parts becoming a hot topic
In view of the great value of auto parts, in addition to the Plan released this time, relevant departments have issued special policies for remanufacturing auto parts this year. In April, eight departments such as the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology jointly issued "Interim Measures for the Standard Management of Remanufacturing Auto Parts", aiming to further regulate the development of the remanufacturing of the auto part industry, extending the auto parts industry chain, and promoting the after-sales market of automobiles.
 
The "Management Measures" contains a total of eight chapters and 36 articles, which clearly stipulates the standard conditions of remanufacturing enterprises, the management of old parts recycling, remanufacturing, remanufactured products, remanufacturing markets, and supervision and management.
 
"Scrapped motor vehicles are a valuable resource that needs to be developed urgently. "Management Measures" breaks the previous monopolistic management of quantity control. Enterprises that meet the requirements are allowed to engage in scrapped motor vehicle recycling after approval. At the same time, engine assemblies and other components of scrapped motor vehicles are allowed to be remanufactured. In the opinion of Xinguang Jia, a well-known automotive commentator, the implementation of the "Management Measures" has attracted more capital to the field of scrapped motor vehicle recycling, promoting the rapid development of remanufacturing parts, and improving China's green development level.
 
The relevant person in charge of the Environmental Resources Department of the National Development and Reform Commission said that the National Development and Reform Commission would support the research and development of remanufacturing technology. Encourage remanufacturing enterprises. Accelerate the development and application of key remanufacturing technologies by the research and design units. Solve common and key technical problems in remanufacturing. Deepen R&D and industrialization of remanufacturing technology and equipment of auto parts. Focus on the development of remanufacturing technology and processes of high value-added parts, and promote capacity building such as the recycling of old parts and remanufactured products and the quality control of remanufactured products. Provide support for research and development of remanufacturing technology, demonstration and promotion projects.