Renault calls this their circular economy, making the best use of their production capacity.
Renault has opened a new ‘Used Parts Factory’ in France with a dedicated disassembly line for its heavy-duty vehicles sold in Europe.
The new factory will disassemble Renault trucks that have reached their end-of-life. The disassembled parts will then be checked, cleaned and labelled. Parts which still have some life left in them will be refurbished and re-used, giving them an extended lifetime.
The major parts pulled by the disassembly plant will be the engine, gearbox, cabin, fuel tank, bumpers and wind deflectors. Many of the parts that can still be used will be either put in operation at Renault’s own factories or given to third-party recyclers. The truck rails will be cut up and sent to a local foundry, which will extract the metal and send it to make new vehicles.
Renault calls this their circular economy, making the best use of their production capacity. The initiative to re-use parts from end-of-life trucks is said to be part of Renault’s plans of becoming carbon neutral. The disassembly plant is said to be backed by a feasibility study conducted by French Auto Recycling Company Indra, along with ADAME (French Environment & Energy Management Agency).
The new Used Parts factory is located in Lyon-Venissieux, France. The 32,300 square-foot facility is built close to Renault’s logistics centre, which handles heavy-duty vehicles with high mileage. Renault Trucks claims its vehicles are designed to last for over 1.5 million kilometres.