End-of-life Electrical and Electronic Equipment Remanufacturing Prospects in Malaysia

Abstract

Organized remanufacturing has to be an important alternative option instead of throwing-away of used electrical and electronic equipment’s (EEE) in order to save our mother-nature and recover useful resources. The increase in awareness of environmentally conscious manufacturing making the remanufactured products most popular. The significant benefits of remanufacturing are: greater availability of products and low costs to customers, new employment and industrial skills training to workers, and conservation of material and energy resources to society. Remanufacturing not only focus on economic profits but also keeping contribution to minimize environmental impacts by utilizing end-of-life (EOL) products. This study attempts to find out remanufacturing opportunities, and main challenges, along with the dominant influencing factors in a fast-developing country like Malaysia based on authentic literature review and expert opinions. The paper presented a short description of e-waste status, potential remanufacturing areas, its current practices, possible policy measures, and the present barriers in remanufacturing. The findings and observations provide a foundation and clear idea about the prospective of remanufacturing in Malaysia and probable further research directions.