Intelligent flexible disassembly and recycling of used products to support sustainability and total quality management in modern manufacturing industry

Abstract

Important changes in the environment, reduced availability of natural resources and the increasing growth of waste means that new concepts and strategies to recycle technical consumer goods, such as household instruments, consumer electronics and passenger cars, are required instead of land filling, burning or steel production. In view of the large quantity and high personnel costs, an advanced disassembly technique is needed using more rational than traditional manual processes and cheaper than highly sophisticated fully automated high technology machines and devices. One of the biggest problems for the recycling or disposal of products besides the growing mass of waste is their complex composition. An economic, sustainable and ecological procedure is necessary to prepare and to refurbish products, therefore the disassembly is the first step to achieving a higher rate of recycling.