The VDI 2343 Guideline Gives Recommendations For The Concerned Parties – Part ReUse R. Brüning B. Rosemann Dr. Brüning Engineering, Brake, Deutschland Universität Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Deutschland B. Enderle K. Schmidt, T.S. Spengler Allen & Overy LLP, Frankfurt, Deutschland TU Braunschweig, AIP, Braunschweig, Deutschland M. Plumeyer Siemens AG Healthcare Refurbished Systems, Forchheim, Deutschland 1 FACTS ABOUT THE VDI AND VDI GUIDELINES [15] The Verein Deutscher Ingenieure e. V. (“The Association of German Engineers”) is a charitable, commercially and politically independent technical and scientific association of engineers and scientists. With more than 135,000 members, it is one of the largest associ- ations of engineers in Europe and the leading spokesman for technology and engineering in Germany (VDI, 2009). Established in 1856, it has initiated many major developments for technology, for instance in the area of technical monitoring, technical regulations and standardization, working studies, industrial right protection and patent matters. The VDI has systematically built up a set of technical regulations, which today contains more than 1,700 valid VDI guidelines covering extensively the broad field of technology. In line with technical developments, the existing guidelines are updated regularly. Each year about 190 new VDI guidelines are published. This enables the VDI to fulfill its primary function: the transfer of technical knowledge as a service. VDI guidelines are leading work- ing documents for daily use. With regard to their assessment and evaluation criteria they provide well-founded bases for decision taking processes and represent benchmarks for unobjectionable technical procedures. VDI guidelines provide engineers in practice with the security to comply with approved technical regulations. VDI guidelines have particular legal importance at the national level, for example by their inclusion in acts, ordinances, decrees or regulations. VDI guidelines also constitute a practical supplement to European and international rules or serve as national position during the development of these regu- lations. Abstract Germany implemented the European WEEE [18] and RoHS [12] Directives with the German Act on Electrical and Electronic Equipment (ElektroG) [6] in 2005 and 2006. In order to support the concerned parties in their work, the VDI guideline committee 2343 - recycling of electric and electronic devices - was established. The objective of Guideline VDI 2343 is to elaborate and compile practice-tailored and state of the art recommendations for the parties concerned. This is on the one hand because of requirements of the ElektroG, the German implementation of European legislation. On the other hand, ReUse, often also named as “remanufacturing - the ultimate form of recycling” [14] - promises big economical and ecological benefits. Nevertheless, remanufacturing of electronic and electric devices is - in contrast to the automotive applications - less practiced [13]. Therefore, the sheet covers different matters of remanufacturing in order to support small and medium enterprises in establishing remanufacturing activities properly. The sheet starts from the technological point of view, then focussing on economic, ecologic, legal and social objectives. With the intention of further deploying remanufacturing and reuse, recommendations for remanufacturing and refurbishing of electronic and electric devices are given. Their objective is to depict, under which conditions recycling or reuse of electric or electronic products and compo- nents is recommended.