Renault Trucks Will Give New Life to Old Parts

Renault Trucks will set up a vehicle disassembly plant to recycle serviceable parts from trucks being scrapped to reuse in other vehicles.

It is part of the French automaker’s effort to transition its industrial operations to a circular-economy approach. Renault Trucks’ Used Parts Factory is among the first steps in repurposing and remanufacturing operations for used trucks conducted respectively in Renault’s facility in Bourg-en-Bresse and its plant in Limoges. At this industrial facility located in Vénissieux, the brand’s trucks will be dismantled and their parts reused.

The automaker says it has been investing in its circular economy over the past five years, applying a three-pronged approach that consists of regenerating, repurposing and recycling trucks. At the same time, it is conducting numerous initiatives to extend the lifetime of the vehicles it sells. For example, used trucks are remanufactured at the Used Trucks Factory and are updated with the latest technologies in the reconditioning center in Lyon. There also are used special-series models for sale.

The Used Parts Factory is an extension of this strategy where an industrial site is devoted entirely to recycling trucks and reusing the parts and raw materials recovered from them.

The 32,300 sq.-ft. (3,000 sq.-m) plant built near Renault Trucks’ logistics center is designed to handle used vehicles with high mileage, along with some parts that still have substantial potential for reuse.

End-of-life Renault trucks will enter the factory where operators will remove the components previously identified as suitable for reuse, including engine, gearbox, cabin, fuel tank, bumpers and deflectors.

Once the parts intended for reuse have been removed, the other components will be recycled. The rails, for example, will be cut up and sent to the nearby foundry. The metal extracted from the parts will be used to manufacture a new vehicle.

The components intended for reuse will then be checked, cleaned and labeled for listing and traceability purposes. These used spare parts will be sent to the nearby Renault Trucks spare parts store, just like new spare parts, and made available to dealers on the manufacturer’s online spare parts marketplace. These used spare parts will be covered by a manufacturer’s warranty and their cost will be significantly lower compared to new spare parts.

Regarding used parts for its old vehicle ranges, Renault Trucks is continuing to work with Indra Automobile Recycling and will offer its dealership network a range of parts obtained through dismantling operations carried out by the recycling specialist.