Extended producer responsibility is the approach that ties a product's environmental cost to the manufacturer through to its end of life. This framework, long established in passenger-car automotive, is expanding in Europe towards the heavy-vehicle and trailer segment: how the vehicle will be dismantled, which materials will be recovered and how waste will be managed is now the manufacturer's question.
What Does It Mean for the Trailer?
Thanks to its long service life and large metal mass, the trailer is actually an advantageous product for recovery; but this potential only becomes reality with a design that can be disassembled. Bolted rather than bonded joints, separable modules instead of mixed materials, and traceable marking of material type are the decisions that determine end-of-life value.
Principles Returning to the Design Desk
- Joint and module architecture planned with the disassembly sequence in mind
- Steel, aluminium and composite zones structured so they can be separated
- Safe disconnection points for hydraulic oil, brake lines and electronic components
- Suitability of high-value assemblies such as axles, suspension and king-pin for remanufacturing
Field studies on the heavy-vehicle sector show that dismantling and remanufacturing are viable not only environmentally but also commercially. A manufacturer who designs for end of life both prepares for upcoming regulation and gives its product a second economic life.
References
- Saidani, M., Yannou, B., Leroy, Y. & Cluzel, F. (2020). Dismantling, remanufacturing and recovering heavy vehicles in a circular economy. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 156, 104684. DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2020.104684