A New Industrial Ecosystem: Stellantis’ Circular Challenge

Stellantis has launched its circular economy hub in Turin, spearheaded by the SUSTAINera business unit, which champions theremanufacturing, reuse, and recycling of automotive components – all in pursuit of a more sustainable model.

Located within a historic plant in Turin, dating back to the 1950s and part of the wider Mirafiori industrial complex, the hub spans over 73,000 square metres of fully renovated space. In 2023, Stellantis officially inaugurated this first-of-its-kind circular economy hub – a cutting-edge facility, not just for its technologies, but for the broader systemic vision it represents: a regenerative production model, built to endure, powered by its own waste, and designed to rethink the lifespan of vehicles and their components.

Leading this transformation is SUSTAINera, a business unit established in 2022 to coordinate all circular economy initiatives within the company. Its name is more than branding – it’s a mission statement: to usher in a new era of sustainability by extending the life of components and vehicles, reusing existing materials, rejecting planned obsolescence, and promoting the circular economy as the group’s new blueprint for production and consumption.

At the core of the initiative lies the 4R strategy – remanufacturing (reman), repair, reuse, and recycle – which informs all of the hub’s operations. Here, electric vehicle engines, gearboxes and batteries are remanufactured and offered within the SUSTAINera REMAN range of spare parts. End-of-life vehicles are dismantled to recover both recyclable materials and quality components fit for reuse, feeding into a stock currently comprising 11.5 million parts. This is managed in collaboration with B-Parts, a European leader in certified, original second-hand parts. Pre-owned vehicles are reconditioned and returned to market via Spoticar, Stellantis’ dedicated used car e-commerce platform.

In 2024 alone, the hub remanufactured 10,000 engines, 10,000 gearboxes, and 1,000 batteries. Additionally, 5,000 vehicles were reconditioned, and 1.8 million components were processed, sorted, and redirected – either back into the hub for remanufacturing, supplied to partner companies, or fed into the Stellantis recycling network.

This hub is a cornerstone of a wider transformation across the Stellantis group – a global automotive powerhouse formed through the merger of FCA and PSA. As part of its Dare Forward 2030 strategic plan, the group is committed to achieving carbon net-zero by 2038 and ensuring that 40% of materials in new vehicles are green (recycled or bio-based) by 2030. The circular economy is pivotal in meeting these targets: creating a production model that maximises the value of existing resources, reduces waste, and limits environmental impact. Stellantis aims to generate more than €2 billion in annual revenue from this model by 2030, all while preserving natural resources. The SUSTAINera spare parts programme alone delivers savings of up to 80% in raw materials and reduces CO₂ emissions by up to 50%.

Crucially, remanufacturing is not a step down in quality. All remanufactured components meet the same specifications, performance standards, and warranties as new parts. The process – disassembly, thorough cleaning, part replacement, reassembly, and testing – is meticulous and ensures high standards are maintained. This virtuous cycle reduces waste and emissions, but also helps consumers by providing affordable, sustainable alternatives without compromising on quality.

SUSTAINera serves as a bridge between end-of-life and new beginnings. Its mission is to transform consumption itself – extending product life cycles and reincorporating recycled materials into the manufacture of new parts and vehicles. Every vehicle becomes a resource to draw from; every piece of scrap, the start of something new.

But achieving a truly circular model demands more than an industrial shift – it calls for a cultural one. We must inform and inspire consumers, change perceptions of second-hand goods, and champion the quality and value of remanufactured parts. We need to reshape the narrative – one that highlights durability, care, and repair as virtues.

That’s why SUSTAINera is also investing in communication, working alongside Stellantis’ brand divisions to embed sustainability not only as a corporate value, but as a visible, recognisable part of the customer experience. This marks a real paradigm shift – one that balances profitability with long-term responsibility, both environmental and economic.

In an era defined by climate crisis and resource scarcity, Stellantis is proving that industry can be part of the solution – emulating the logic of natural ecosystems, where everything plays a role, everything has its time, and everything can be reborn. Where, indeed, everything is circular.