What is a Remanufactured Product?

Certain types of products can be recycled or, more specifically, remanufactured for future sale. Remanufacturing is the process of restoring worn and discarded durable products to like-new condition. For example, for an automotive product to be considered "remanufactured" or "rebuilt" by the Federal Trade Commission, it must be dismantled; all internal and external parts must be cleaned, and made free from rust and corrosion; all impaired, defective or substantially worn parts must be restored to sound condition or replaced with new or rebuilt parts; and all necessary operations must be performed to put the remanufactured product in sound working condition. The above FTC Standards may be applied to the remanufacturing process generally. The following step is added, although it is not part of the FTC Standards. Once this reassembly process is complete, reliability tests are performed to ensure that the product performs as good as new.

The remanufacturing process begins when a consumer discards a worn durable good that no longer exhibits acceptable appearance, reliability, or performance. This discarded product or "core" is collected by either the company that originally manufactured the good or by an independent remanufacturer. Examples of products that are often collected by their original manufacturers include photocopiers and office furniture. Auto parts and toner cartridges are examples of products more often remanufactured by independent remanufacturers. Once the product has been returned to its original condition, it is sold to consumers as a remanufactured good. In many cases, a product can be remanufactured multiple times, further extending its useful life.

Theoretically, any product that can be manufactured can be remanufactured. The range of remanufactured products extends from toner cartridges to aircraft. There are, however, a number of factors that make certain products more likely candidates. For instance, products that are factory built and that are not likely to suffer from rapid technological obsolescence are more often remanufactured. In addition, products whose recoverable value-added is a high percentage of their original price are more economically attractive options for remanufacturing.

Back to Reman Overview