Caroline Spelman speaking at the launch of the APSRG report last month

The renaissance of British manufacturing has created an outstanding opportunity for remanufacturing, whereby equipment is rebuilt, improved and recycled. However, the full potential for UK remanufacturing has not yet been realised. To explore this potential, I recently chaired a report by the All-Party Parliamentary Sustainable Resource Group (APSRG), which focused on the possible economic and environmental benefits of remanufacturing to the UK, and ways in which the current barriers to remanufacturing can be overcome.

So, why should we be focusing on remanufacturing? The answer is its huge potential: the UK’s remanufacturing sector is valued at £2.4 billion, with the potential to increase to £5.6 billion. This will simultaneously create thousands of skilled jobs in the sector.

Remanufacturing is a global industry in which the UK is currently lagging behind. The United States is the largest remanufacturer in the world, with a remanufacturing sector valued at $43 billion (£26 billion), employing 180,000 people. There is an opportunity for the UK to make more of its remanufacturing sector and become a global leader in this field.

We must grasp this opportunity and incentivise remanufacturing, to stimulate its uptake. But how should this be done? First of all, remanufacturing must be supported by the government, in a similar way to its support for manufacturing. Manufacturing was highlighted in the Budget 2014, where Chancellor George Osborne stated that the UK manufacturing sector has 20 years of catching up to do, compared to the US manufacturing sector. To narrow this gap, resources have been given to businesses that invest and export, to support manufacturers in all regions of the UK. A similar commitment must be demonstrated to remanufacturing.

Alongside the economic opportunities of remanufacturing is a strong environmental opportunity. Climate change is increasingly on the global political agenda, for example, with US Secretary of State John Kerry describing it this week as ‘catastrophic’, following the publication of a major UN report. Remanufacturing has the potential to save 800,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide each year roughly equivalent to one per cent of the annual emissions from cars in the UK.

Many market and regulatory impediments need to be overcome for remanufacturing to be taken up successfully. Firstly, products need to be designed with remanufacturing in mind from the outset.

At present, regulatory barriers hinder the uptake of remanufacturing. Of particular importance are the current lack of a globally-accepted legal definition of remanufacturing and, connectedly, the regulation surrounding the legal definition of waste. As it stands, the ‘Current Guidance on the Legal Definition of Waste’ does not mention remanufactured products and thus they are not exempt from those products classified as waste. This is especially unhelpful to the uptake of remanufacturing, as it has negative consequences for market dynamics, consumer concepts and international trade. This is why one of the report’s key recommendations is that we need a globally accepted definition of remanufacturing, to overcome these hurdles.

There is an opportunity to address some of the barriers to remanufacturing through the creation of one or more Centres of Excellence, for those sectors where remanufacturing can have the largest impact. Remanufacturing is not a 'one-size fits all' approach, but for those product types that fit the criteria education is key to its successful uptake. A Centre of Excellence, linked to a university, would provide a unique opportunity to share best practice.

Remanufacturing is an area which cuts across several government departments, and should be addressed as such. We need a cross-departmental committee to be established, led by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, but supported by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, to ensure cross-party collaboration and policy alignment.

Despite the barriers, there are already some businesses that have recognised the potential for remanufacturing and incorporated it into their business models. Both large multinational corporations, such as Caterpillar, and some SMEs, such as the office furniture company Orangebox, have recognised the competitive advantage that remanufacturing can provide.

We need to recognise the value that remanufacturing can have to the UK’s economy and environment. The hurdles to this opportunity need to be overcome, however I am confident that, if we tackle these barriers, remanufacturing can bring significant gains going forward.

Find out more about APSRG’s recent remanufacturing report, or visit the website for more information about the project.

The Rt Hon Caroline Spelman is MP for Meriden and a former Environment Secretary.