CER opens up to ReMaTec 2019 visitors

if you are not yet a member of the European Remanufacturing Council (CER) and wonder what the organisation is doing – then ReMaTec will take you inside the CER’s 2019 annual meeting.

Previous meetings in Paris (2017) and Berlin (2018) were invitation-only. But on the afternoon of Monday 24 June, visitors to ReMaTec 2019 in Amsterdam will be able to walk in – free of charge – to hear keynote speaker Janez Potoĉnik, a former European Commissioner and now chair of the United Nations Environment Programme’s International Resource Panel. Also present will be representatives from the Ellen MacArthur Foundation – which has agreed to include remanufacturing as one of its campaign themes this year - and member companies such as ENEL, Lexmark, Panalpina and Teleplan.

“Traditionally, most of the business representation at ReMaTec has been from the automotive sector but CER is working with RAI to broaden out representation,” says CER director David Fitzsimons. “Why? Because remanufacturing is growing strongly in many other sectors and this is what interests policymakers at the European Commission and in the governments of several member states.”

Fitzsimons, who also represents the UK’s Centre for Remanufacturing and ReUse (CRR) at Ellen MacArthur Foundation CE100 meetings, insists that ReMaTec 2019 visitors are welcome to visit the CER’s stand at any time. “Come to our event and you will see how original equipment manufacturers, specialists and independent small- and medium-size enterprises from sectors as diverse as medical devices, IT, telecoms, utilities and logistics are throwing their support behind remanufacturing because it is the backbone of the new circular economy,” he says.

CER’s own stated aim is to increase sales in Europe from €30 billion now to €100 billion by 2030 – but it acknowledges that to do this more transactions and more business development is required.

“To demonstrate the scale of our ambition we are planning a joint announcement designed to challenge the entire remanufacturing sector,” Fitzsimons concludes. “We may not manage to get everyone we need on board by mid-June but come along, walk straight in and - if we have managed it - hear it first at ReMaTec.