Remanufacturing is a value retention process (VRP), along with direct reuse, repair, and comprehensive refurbishment, which prepares the used product for new uses by controlling and recapturing its value through several industrial operations. Remanufacturing possesses significant financial, environmental, and societal opportunities, and some manufacturers tend to challenge their business models, production systems, products, logistics, and customer management to comply with a circular economy (CE). 

However, remanufacturing is sometimes undervalued and is ranked low, compared to other VRPs, among the recirculation processes (after-use-phase processes that bring and keep used products, their parts or material in a closed material loop through reuse, recycling, downcycling, and upcycling). The main reason for this is the greater number of resources required and fewer benefits provided compared to direct product reuse and repair. This paper studies a remanufacturer using different VRPs to satisfy customer needs and to better balance an incoming core (used product and its part) quality and the demanded product quality. 

The aim of this paper is to define remanufacturing value and better align remanufacturing in comparison to other recirculation processes. The data was collected through a literature study and interviews with an EEE remanufacturer to fulfill the aim of this paper. The literature study covered the previous knowledge on remanufacturing, VRPs and recirculation processes. The interviews with an EEE remanufacturer provided valuable input to the scope of the VRPs performed by a single remanufacturer.

Lean approaches the remanufacturing value from a customer perspective shifting the paradigm of VRP, where remanufacturing is ranked low. Remanufacturing tends to demand greater resources to save the product value and implies greater product intervention. However, the output quality assured with a longer warranty, new product identity and prolonged (doubled or tripled) product use phase overcomes the benefits associated with the other VRPs, when customer value is in focus. The analysis of the remanufacturing value in comparison to other recirculation processes elevates remanufacturing in a recirculation taxonomy for technical products. The assessment of social, environmental, and economic benefits with remanufacturing compliments the findings. The result of the study lays the foundation for the development of the “9R taxonomy” – a framework on recirculation processes for technical products, where six VRPs can be handled by a remanufacturer.