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Demanufacturing – the sustainable alternative to simply just recycling

Since its creation in 1997, the RAL Quality Assurance Association has dedicated itself to achieving its primary goal: Transforming the activities typically referred to as ‘fridge recycling’ into the mirror image of a modern industrial manufacturing process. The treatment of end-of-life refrigeration equipment involves the removal of environmentally harmful refrigerants and foam-blowing agents and the reintroduction of reclaimed secondary raw materials (metals, plastics, etc.) into the production cycle. But simply complying with the minimum legal requirements is not enough, for fridge treatment operations to be part of a sustainable, closed-loop supply chain all aspects of the cycle have to be subjected to professional quality assurance procedures to ensure that they conform to the highest environmental quality standards.

‘Recycling’ is not enough – we need to talk about ‘demanufacturing’.

Production and distribution

 

All of these quality criteria from production to customer delivery are designed to ensure that product quality (energy efficiency, service life, etc.) is a central aspect of modern refrigeration appliances.

Demanufacturing and reverse logistics

Ensuring that quality plays an equally important role when products reach the end of their normal usage lifetimes means introducing the same types of quality assurance mechanisms that are used when manufacturing and distributing modern consumer goods.

  • Reversing or mirroring the manufacturing and distribution processes
  • Quality assurance specifications
  • Standards
  • Auditing the demanufacturing process
  • Quality management