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Product recovery management (PRM) encompasses the management of all used and discarded products, components, and materials that fall under the responsibility of a manufacturing company. The objective of product recovery management is to recover as much of the economic (and ecological) value as reasonably possible, thereby reducing the ultimate quantities of waste.
The traditional approach of many manufacturers towards used products has been to ignore them. Manufacturers typically did not feel responsible for what happened with their products after customer use. Most products were designed in such a way that while materials, assembly, and distribution costs were minimized, the repair, reuse, and disposal requirements were not taken into account. Manufacturers generally believed that the costs of incorporating these requirements would outweigh the benefits. Most of their customers were not prepared to pay an additional fee for a "green" product. Most purchasing decisions were made with the intention of minimizing the purchasing costs, instead of optimizing life-cycle performance--which includes maintenance, reuse, and disposal issues. Consequently, the majority of used products in "developed countries" were landfilled or incinerated, with considerable damage to the environment.
Today, both customers and authorities demand that manufacturers reduce the quantities of waste generated by their products. Customer pressure is triggered by environmental concern in general and by rising product disposal costs in specific. Product disposal costs have increased significantly in recent years as landfill and incineration capacity is being depleted. Governmental action encompasses both legislation and purchasing programs. Legislative actions include disposal bans for specific products (e.g., appliances), recycled content mandates, recycling goals, and product take-back requirements. Purchasing programs favor products that are reusable or that have reused content.(1) Unfortunately, the contents of legislation and purchasing programs differ by country, or even by state within a specific country. This poses considerable problems to manufacturers that compete on a worldwide scale. A number of well-known international manufacturers (including Shape, 3M, and Xerox) have decided to manufacture their products according to (or beyond) the highest existing environmental standards.(2)
Many companies consider the issue of discarded products a threat to their business. Clearly, complying with rapidly changing regulations and fulfilling fast moving customer demands may require a fundamental change in doing business. However, there could be large opportunities for companies that succeed in ways of...