So-called single use cameras made by Eastman Kodak Co. (EK ) and Fuji Photo Film Co. (FUJIY) have revolutionized photography. Sold everywhere --even in vending machines-- they're inexpensive, and the pictures aren't bad. In truth, however, those single use cameras are anything but. They're rebuilt as many as 10 times after customers drop them off to have film developed. And while consumers find them convenient, that's just part of the story. In environmental circles, single-use cameras have become the stars of a hot recycling
trend known as remanufacturing.

With conventional recycling, finished goods that have outlived their usefulness are turned back into raw materials. Plastic soda bottles, for example, are melted down and reformed into park benches, playground mats, and even fleece clothing. With remanufacturing, in contrast, goods or components are reconditioned and used again and again, saving energy, money, and landfill space. Henry Ford was the first to see the possibilities, opening a factory to rebuild car engines in the 1930s. Now, auto parts make up about two thirds of the $53 billion remanufacturing industry in the U.S., according to William C. Gager, president of the
Automotive Parts Rebuilders Assn. From car batteries to printer cartridges and computers,
be made new again. "There is nothing that I know of called "waste" " says Nabil Z. Nasr, director of the 10-year-old National Center for Remanufacturing & Resource Recovery (NCR3) at New York's Rochester Institute of Technology. "We're dealing with resources."

For anyone who remembers putting empty milk bottles out on the back porch, this may not sound all that new. But mass produced goods built from specialized materials and components are a universe away from simple glass bottles. With a Kodak camera, for example, the case, shutter, flash, and other parts all require close inspection. By designing the product for reuse, the extra effort pays off.

REGULATORY SHIFT. Public policy is driving this trend. In state after state, manufacturers are confronting strict new landfill regulations. And they're starting to see "take back" laws, especially in Europe, which shift the responsibility of product disposal away from consumers and onto the original manufacturers.

Remanufacturing also makes good business sense. Remade goods are typically 40% to 65% cheaper to produce than their brand new counterparts. Indeed, since materials don't have to be ground up or chemically processed, remanufacturing is more energy efficient than other forms of recycling, says industry expert Robert T. Lund of Boston University. By some estimates, remanufacturing saves 120 trillion Btus of energy worldwide each year. That works out to about 16 million barrels of crude oil --or upwards of $500 million worth of energy.

Sometimes, companies need a kick in the pants before they recognize the benefits of remanufacturing. That was the case with producers of toner cartridges for laser printers. They jumped on the bandwagon only when environmentally concerned customers began to demand it, says Jack C. Azar, vice president for environmental health and safety at Xerox
(XRX ). Now, cartridge remanufacturing is a $3 billion industry, and a network of 6,000 private rebuilders has sprung up to compete with the manufacturers for that business. Companies are willing to pay shipping charges on returned cartridges, and some will even pay for the empties.

It's harder to encourage a customer to ship back a photocopier or a computer, but leasing programs are helping to remove the barriers. A decade ago, managers at Xerox realized they were sitting on a gold mine of post-lease equipment stashed in warehouses --most of it still in good condition and costing the company a bundle to store. So they began to recondition the copiers for resale. It wasn't long before they figured out that it would be much easier-- and the quality of the finished products would be much higher-- if the machines had been designed for remanufacture in the first place. Today they are. From copiers to toner cartridges, Xerox is designing products that are modular, making them easy to disassemble and to check for worn parts.

Computers may be the next big target for remanufacturing --in part, because disposal options are limited. Recycling toxin-laden PCs can be expensive, and landfill regulations limit dumping. By all measures, refurbishing used PCs makes better business sense. So recently, in addition to rebuilding equipment returned under lease agreement, both Dell Computer Corp. and IBM have begun to take back used computers from individual customers.

Independent PC rebuilders are getting in on the game, too: "Most [discarded PCs] are fully functional. Americans just don't want older technology," says David Garrett, national account director for Belmont Trading Co. in Northbrook, Ill., which processes about 12,000 used computers each month. These are sold to countries further down the tech pecking order, including Mexico and Russia.

PROTOTYPE SYSTEM. Not all goods can be resurrected profitably. It costs more to take apart a $30 boombox radio than it does to produce a new one, notes Mark Small, vice-president for corporate environmental safety and health at Sony Electronics. "In a way, we're a victim of our own success" in manufacturing, he observes. Sony is now subsidizing a
five-year statewide recycling program in Minnesota, hoping to develop a prototype infrastructure for recycling electronics.

Quality is another big concern. "Like new" isn't new. That's why Nasr and his team at NCR3 are developing diagnostic tools to evaluate product performance and even using embedded computer chips to monitor wear and tear. Noting that many products --especially electronic ones-- become obsolete long before they wear out, he sees a big future in salvaging expensive components. "If they have the same properties, and meet the same specifications, why would you even worry about it?" he asks. Indeed, for many companies, remanufacturing solves more worries than it raises.