On April 10, leaders of several remanufacturing industries met in Rochester, New York and created the Remanufacturing Industries Council to provide a unified organization to cohesively address the needs of all the industries and leverage their combined strengths. Industry representatives convened in Rochester at the invitation of Dr. Nabil Nasr, director of the Rochester Institute of Technology's National Center for Resource Recovery and Remanufacturing, which hosted the event.
When combined, remanufacturing industries account for $48 billion in sales, employ roughly 1/2 million people and are comprised of 73,000 businesses. All of these industries share common features such as their environmental benefits and confront common threats such as OEM encroachment.
The industries represented included automotive parts remanufacturers, engine rebuilders, office furniture remanufacturers and printer cartridge remanufacturers. Representatives from government agencies and national laboratories and research institutes were also present.
The printer cartridge industry was represented by Optical Technologies Corp. Lester Cornelius and Recharger Magazine Executive Editor Tricia Judge, who reported upon the influx of OEM anti-recycling devices into the industry as well as the massive successful grassroots efforts that had been undertaken by industry members. The two-day event included indoctrination into the structure, size, history, opportunities and challenges of each industry, as well as comprehensive discussions on the need for and structure of a multi-industry council.
After concluding that such an organization should be established, the members voted unanimously to form the Remanufacturing Industries Council. Three committees were established to address the immediate needs of the Council. The Public Policy Committee was formed to address the legal, legislative and policy initiatives that affect all remanufacturing communities. The Public Awareness Committee was formed to assist in building public confidence in remanufactured products. The Technology Committee was formed to study technological issues and standard implementation.
