Remanufacturing as a potential tool for sustainable maintenance of two-wheeler motorcycles

Due to population growth, the global economy consumes billions of tons of resources annually. Only 8.6% of the waste gets recycled back into the economy. In Sub-Saharan Africa, motorcycles are rapidly becoming a popular means of transportation. Motorcycle maintenance procedures have resulted in disposal of old motorcycle cores, necessitating the purchase of new cores. Remanufacturing can be used to repurpose cores to reduce the demand for new ones. This study aimed at assessing the extent of remanufacturing of motorcycle cores in Uganda through evaluation of local capacity to remanufacture. A survey with 95 respondents in 24 different locations in central Uganda was conducted. Among the 65 major components highly susceptible to wear and tear in motorcycle maintenance, 34 cores were chosen for assessment of their potential for remanufacturing. The fuzzy theory embedded in the basic Analytic Hierarchy Process was used for evaluating the re-manufacturability of returned cores. The cores commonly returned include bearings, crankshafts, gears, clutch plates, and wheel hubs. 64% of the participants were aware of remanufacturing practices, and 30% of the participants were already engaging in small-scale remanufacturing with low price of remanufactured cores. Components become eligible for remanufacturing when they exhibit technological, economic, and environmental feasibility scores of at least 0.6, 0.5, and 0.7 respectively. Out of the evaluated cores, 56% meet technological feasibility threshold, 71% exhibited economic feasibility while 82% fulfilled the environmental feasibility. These findings provide valuable insights for development and promotion of remanufacturing in the two-wheeler motorcycle industry.