Manufacturing and the circular economy, when it all began...

Associate Professor Amir has come up with a new approach to circular manufacturing systems. The goal is to succeed with reuse of resources at a large scale.

When Amir Rashid first took up his Associate Professor post at KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm at the Machine and Process Technology Unit in 2010, he soon found himself engaged in discussions with colleagues on the relative strengths and weaknesses of remanufacturing: the rebuilding of a product to specifications of the original manufactured product using a combination of reused, repaired and new parts.

In the course of the research, it became evident to Rashid that there were three vital manufacturing variables that could not be adequately measured during remanufacturing: quality of the input (raw material), quantity of the input and timing of the input (when it will be acquired). This meant that the remanufacturing model was not inherently stable to start with. It was clear that this was because contemporary products were not designed for a closed loop system. They were a fault of the system that had produced them.

After having recognised the problems apparent in a manufacturing system that had been designed around a linear “take, make, dispose” model, Rashid and his team had decided that they needed to implement pilot projects to test a ‘closed loop’ model. Their work gained momentum, and by 2013, the KTH team’s research had developed into a unique European Union-funded project involving 12 partners from six EU countries, with Rashid as project manager.

Thus began the ResCom project (Resource Conservative Manufacturingtransforming waste into high-value resource through closed-loop product systems). It is a EUR 5.6m (SEK 56 million) endeavour that has brought together a consortium of knowledge and technology providers, original equipment manufacturers and an advisory board, along with an independent expert body in the shape of the Ellen McArthur Foundation.

Since 2014 the group has been piloting closed-loop manufacturing processes. From the design of a product to its manufacturing, marketing, collecting, remanufacturing and remarketing, ResCom considers all the necessary areas to enable a circular manufacturing model. The consortium is also developing a software platform to help those in the manufacturing sector as they move to a closed-loop system.

This unique, collaborative project has made great progress. So much so that it is now being showcased as a success story by the European Commission in its internal and external communications.

To make the switch to a circular economy means not only redefining the idea of product value, but also building the basic tools that will enable it to be introduced and sustained. And the complexity of the system will increase when it comes to implementation. For Rashid the biggest challenge is achieving a shift in people’s mindset, though he does think that it is beneficial to be in Sweden to test the theory: “The environment is open and receptive to new ideas such as these”.

KTH is committed to playing its part. The president has tasked ITM (School of Industrial Engineering & Management) with a four-year initiative on the circular economy. Rashid will lead a group as SEK 10 million is invested over the next four years in order to strengthen circular economy research and education at the Royal Institute.

From an initial suspicion that a systemic fault existed at the heart of manufacturing, to realising a way in which to treat it, Rashid and KTH have forged a new method of managing not only manufacturing processes, but also the relationship and codependence that society has with our planet.