Driving circularity in the automotive industry
July 23rd, 2024
Original Engines Co remanufactures engines back to original equipment manufacturers' specifications so they remain under warranty with the original manufacturer’s factory genuine parts, standard processes and strict quality regulations.
Approximately 52 per cent of the 15.3 million passenger vehicles registered in Australia in 2023 were manufactured in the last 10 years. About half of all Australian passenger vehicles are only a third of the way through their life.
Remanufacture brings engines back to “like-new” condition resulting in a longer service life than reconditioned engines.
Keeping engines in the loop creates jobs locally and equips the next generation of people with the skills needed for more onshore remanufacturing.
According to the Australian Government, over 700,000 vehicles reach their end of first life and are discarded by wrecking, crushing or scrapping as waste in Australia every year.
Original Engines Co tackles this issue in partnership with original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) at its remanufacturing centre of excellence in Melbourne by bringing engines back to their original condition with extended warranties and longer service lives than reconditioned car engines.
Original Engines Co’s Managing Director Colin Doherty believes the automotive industry is ideal for implementing circular strategies because it can reduce emissions from the production lifecycle to disposal.
Doherty’s career began in aviation with Boeing making components designed for a 'take, make, waste' linear economic system. Seeing greater opportunities to keep engines in use in the automotive industry, Colin began collaborating with Ford Motor Company's engineering department in Melbourne before founding Original Engines Co in 1990.
The transition to a circular business began at the Rematec exhibition in Amsterdam in June 2023. Seeing how quickly European countries were transitioning from a 'take make waste' linear economy towards a more circular economy inspired Colin and the Original Engines Co team to encourage more circular practices in the Australian automotive industry.
Original Engines Co wants to lead the Australian automotive industry towards a more circular model by normalising the reuse and remanufacturing of engines in Australia so usable engine components are no longer disposed of.
Circularity is core to Original Engines Co’s business of remanufacturing engines that have reached the ‘end of first life’. Original Engines Co is asking businesses in the automotive industry to accelerate the sector’s move away from a ‘take make waste’ linear economic approach by embracing circular economy practices, as they lead by example.
Remanufacturing requires less energy and produces fewer greenhouse gas emissions than manufacturing new engines to the same specifications. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, the ratio of the total energy required for new production compared to remanufacturing is approximately 6:1.
Original Engines Co aim to recycle or remanufacture as many engine components as they can. Engines with issues are stripped down to determine the root cause of the problem and see whether the engine is suitable for remanufacturing.
A strict remanufacturing process uses state-of-the-art equipment and genuine OEM parts with the same or better engine tolerances used during the original manufacturing process. This produces an engine that is equivalent or superior to its condition when it was first manufactured.
The engines that Original Engines Co remanufactures for OEMs meet or exceed the OEM standards and come with a 2-year or 50,000km warranty.
Remanufacturing typically uses 85 percent less energy than manufacturing and offsets over 800,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions a year compared to new manufacturing.
Original Engines Co estimates each remanufactured engine saves approximately 65 percent of the original engine cores in the remanufacturing process. In 2023, the company remanufactured 1503 engines resulting in estimated savings of 195,000 kgs of materials, 900,000kg of CO2e, and 2.4 million litres of water.
This year, the company will remanufacture its 5000th engine since 2017, resulting in a total saving of 7.9 million litres of water.
Original Engines Co was named Best Large Automotive Business – Metropolitan 2024 by the Victorian Automobile Chamber of Commerce.
The company’s new white paper recommends ten actions all businesses in the automotive industry could take to reduce waste and pollution and keep valuable resources in use. Find out more at https://originalengines.co/about-us/white-paper-circular-economy.