The end of a machine's lifecycle does not signify the end of its utility. With thoughtful end-of-life management, companies not only enhance their environmental footprint but also make a significant contribution to the circular economy. A strategic approach gives decommissioned machines and their parts new value.
Climate change, biodiversity loss, and ocean pollution — these symptoms of reckless resource use highlight the urgency of rethinking our general way of resource consumption. Circular approaches offer an important opportunity to bring production and consumption processes back into a planetary balance of creation, reuse, and renewal. A fundamental shift in thinking is necessary to drive systemic changes.
GEA's end-of-life (EOL) management is based on the principles of the circular economy and encompasses reduction, reuse, repair, refurbishment, and recycling. By focusing on both processes and business models that promote sustainable practices, the company aligns its entire value chain to extend product lifecycles and reduce the consumption of primary raw materials. By implementing circular strategies such as maintenance, upgrading, repairs, and recycling, and by concentrating on circular product design, GEA transforms traditional linear value creation processes into a cradle-to-cradle principle.
GEA employs a structured approach for successful end-of-life management, starting with a comprehensive inventory and assessment of machines by type, value, weight, and performance. Based on this, the most suitable disposal or recycling methods are selected, depending on the condition and value of the machine:
Effective end-of-life management is crucial to promoting a sustainable circular economy and providing customers with added value through longer usage periods and better resource utilization. GEA focuses on continuous improvement and innovative strategies to achieve both ecological and economic goals.
The documentation and traceability of all steps make the disposal or reuse of machines transparent. This ensures compliance with legal regulations and standards and reduces the risk of environmental impacts. Effective EOL management ensures that parts leaving the cycle meet a quality standard and that this is traceably documented.
GEA has already launched several initiatives to implement end-of-life management that benefit both customers and the environment:
GEA Division Separation & Flow Technologies
Since 2022, GEA has implemented a promising circular economy project with the "Hero for Hero" initiative. GEA offers to buy back separators and decanters older than 20 years and exchange them for more efficient models. This is a genuine win-win-win situation, as customers, GEA, and especially the environment benefit. While customers produce more resource-efficiently with a new, more efficient machine, GEA takes over the old machines into the EOL management process. It is then determined whether they can be refurbished as replacement or used machines, whether they are disassembled and used as spare parts, or whether they are scrapped and the material fed into new production. In individual cases, even foreign-made products are accepted.
In addition to the exchange action, condition monitoring offers customers an added benefit for new machines. This control function ensures that the machines independently indicate when service and maintenance work is due, preventing wear from leading to expensive and material-intensive repairs.
Stefan Pecoroni,Vice President Sustainability, Process Technology & Innovation, SFT
GEA Division Farm Technologies
In the Farm Technology division, GEA is also successfully implementing measures for end-of-life management. The ,Dairy Service 2nd Life ‘ initiative focuses on the reuse of systems such as the milking robot or individual components such as the TOF camera for teat detection.
For the Dairy Robot, old machines are refurbished and reintroduced to the market as used machines. GEA dealers buy the used milking robots from customers, which are then overhauled in GEA's refurbishment centers. Currently, GEA operates two such refurbishment centers in the Netherlands and the UK, with more to follow. With its own infrastructure, GEA can independently refurbish and ensure the highest quality of its used machines. Typically, GEA initiates the refurbishment, but customers are increasingly requesting this option to extend the life of their existing systems. For the distribution of used machines, GEA has developed its own digital sales platform. On this platform, GEA dealers can connect with each other, offer, and trade used machines. In the future, this digital platform is planned to be made accessible to external dealers worldwide.
In the USA, the Farm Technologies division is running a program to replace (old) built-in cameras with a new generation. The old camera modules are reconditioned in Bönen, Germany. These are then returned to the market as used products.
Christian Müller, Senior Director Sustainability, Farm Technologies
Up to 95% of GEA products and parts can be reused or recycled. The majority of our products and parts are made of recyclable and valuable materials such as stainless steel. Therefore, organized end-of-life management offers great potential for GEA. It significantly reduces environmental effects, which would otherwise be borne as social costs. It also holds economic potential for new business models that focus on product utility rather than consumption. Part of this utility is the recycling service: return, upgrade, reuse.
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