Circular Economy in the Automotive Aftermarket – Closing the loop

The car remains one of the most important means of transport for commuters and businesses. With the development of hybrids, electric and fuel cell cars, the car is unlikely to completely disappear soon. Many years after the original equipment (OE) production, the required infrastructure to produce new parts no longer exists. Therefore, remanufacturing is the key for businesses to secure a long-term supply of spare parts in the automotive aftermarket. If we want to put in place remanufacturing business models of vehicles , developers and designers must make sure that a service concept exists and that spare parts are available many years after OE-production. The prerequisite for a remanufacturing process is the availability of cores, which is a typical term for used parts in the automotive aftermarket.

The Circular Economy Solutions (C-ECO) GmbH manages circular economy networks, by providing services, development and sales of service solutions for the circular economy and related businesses. C-ECO’s service brand, CoremanNet, is the leading worldwide core management network in the automotive aftermarket. CoremanNet manages all typical circular economy challenges with an adaptable system. Starting with the physical collection, core inspection and warehousing to financial accounting of core return options including financial settlement. In 2018 CoremanNet handled 3 million used parts from 38 countries. It administered a total surcharge value of more than 100 million Euro and it achieved a total return rate of 95 per cent.