It’s amazing what a little publicity can do. Since the screening of episode four of BBC1’s The Apprentice when the contestants were tasked with selling used furniture for a profit, secondhand furniture shops have seen a rise in business with people looking to turn dusty old chairs and benches into retro, designer pieces.

As it happens, Lord Sugar’s business babes didn’t do too well, making a little over £1,000 in profit. But there is money to be made and money to be saved in remanufacturing.

According to the Centre for Remanufacturing and Reuse (CRR), around 165,000 tonnes of office furniture are thrown away annually by British businesses. Half of it is reuseable and could offer environmental and economic savings. One study estimated that Durham County Council could save £47,000 and 59 tonnes of carbon dioxide a year through procuring remanufactured furniture.

The CRR defines remanufacturing as the ‘act of returning an end-of-life product to an as-new condition with a warranty equivalent to new’. In essence, a remanufactured product should therefore perform in the same way as an equivalent new product. However, the phrase has been “abused” in a bid to “sex up” recycling and reuse, says Nicholas Morley, Director of Sustainable Innovation at consultancy Oakdene Hollins, which operates the CRR. “Remanufacture is all about retaining the function of the product, rather than its properties”, he adds.

It isn’t just furniture that can be remanufactured either. There are remanufacturers in almost every industrial sector, employing 50,000 people in the UK (about the same as the recycling industry), generating £2.4 billion of sales and saving around 10 million tonnes of carbon dioxide a year. But given the economic and environmental benefits, many feel the concept is yet to be embraced with the same warmth as other green sectors.

“One key reason why the field has not attracted more investment already is that it suffers from a lack of awareness”, says Andy Knight from Recycle Scotland, which is in the business of remanufacturing and reusing old office equipment. “Many organisations are simply not aware that [remanufacturing] is even an available option, or that it is suitable for them.”

But is this changing? Is the current economic climate providing the perfect conditions for interest and investment in this area?

According to a recent report by the London Environmental Investment Forum (LEIF), very much so: remanufacturing is becoming “an emerging investment opportunity”, according to LEIF Chairman Tom Whitehouse. “The environmental benefits of remanufacturing and reuse are now being recognised and tougher regulation, such as the WEEE Directive, is starting to reflect this and take the industry forward.” The rising costs of energy and raw materials and a wider acceptance of remanufactured and secondhand products (particularly when they come with warranties) are also factors, says Whitehouse.

Others tend to agree. “With a little effort, remanufacturing old components or goods would help solve the increasingly expensive problem of waste collection, treatment and transportation, and save on importing raw goods and materials. The economics today are starting to make real sense”, says AEA’s Adam Read.

The environmental benefits make the messaging even stronger. Whitehouse says many original equipment manufacturers are currently losing out on additional revenue streams because they don’t offer cheaper remanufactured products or products on a hire or service basis. He doesn’t expect this to continue, with others following the lead of companies like Caterpillar and looking to either move into remanufacturing or increase their capabilities in the area by investing in and acquiring specialist independent manufacturers.

A nudge from government wouldn’t go amiss either, as Askar Sheibani, CEO of IT and telecoms repair company Comtek, explains: “Investors are coming forward, but it’s a slow process. If the government were to lend its support to promoting remanufacture and repair and provide further clarity on the role that this sector should play in industry today, they could look to develop specialised skills and create new jobs – actions which would help to turn around the economic crisis, all whilst satisfying sustainability targets.”

Politicians could need a nudge themselves, though, as the LEIF report makes clear: ‘Unfortunately many policy makers are more narrowly focused on a green economy that comprises, in their view, the renewable energy supply chain and environmental technologies rather than this broader definition. However this landscape may be in the early stages of change, partly driven by those agencies and policy makers concerned with promoting resource efficiency in business and who can see the potential of these business models.’