Challenge
Imagine how many car parts get replaced every year. What if we could drastically reduce that mountain of waste? Nationale-Nederlanden asked themselves that very question. They wanted to uncover the potential environmental advantages of using second-hand parts for the most common car repairs. Their aim: to get a clear picture of the environmental impact differences between new and used parts, and to use that knowledge to get the whole supply chain moving. Route Circulair and Hedgehog were tasked with developing a management presentation that would inspire and prompt NN's management team to take action.
Approach
Hedgehog took the lead in assessing the environmental impact of the various repair works. Under Hedgehog's guidance, NN set about collecting data from garages. To make the impact really concrete, we carried out lifecycle analyses (LCAs) on the top 3 replacement parts: headlamps, windscreens, and bumpers. We compared the environmental impact of a brand new part with that of a second-hand alternative. Route Circulair translated the impact into concrete actions: What does this environmental impact mean for Nationale-Nederlanden, and what levers can they pull to reduce impact?
Results
What did we find? For many parts, the replacement process hardly changes whether you fit a new or a used part. The real environmental benefit lies in the reuse of parts, which means that no new production needs to take place! But there was more. During the research, we discovered that garages sometimes use very different methods to carry out the same repair. This gave NN valuable insights into the "hotspots" for optimisation within the various procedures.
Route Circulair combined Hedgehog's detailed LCA results with their expertise in circular strategy and supply chain collaboration and created a compelling slide deck for the management team. This not only showed how NN itself could reduce impact, but also how to activate the supply chain to start working on circularity. Hedgehog's quantitative approach and Route Circulair's qualitative input created a solid basis for NN to fundamentally make their car damage repair processes more sustainable.
All three organisations look back on a pleasant and very smooth collaboration. Fancy finding out more, please get in touch with one of our experts.
