The Accessor Winter 2025 Web - Flipbook - Page 29
to customers as part of their focus for
an environmental repair claim journey.
“In the main, this is welcomed by our
customers who support the opportunity
to contribute to the circular economy,”
said Michael. “Our bodyshops also
bene昀椀t in cost ef昀椀ciency which helps
improve pro昀椀t margins using recycled
parts compared to 昀椀tting new OE
parts. Using reclaimed parts in place
of new parts on back order also helps
shorten delays in repair.
“We have recently seen the VRA take
big strides in working within the supply
chain, along with the commission
of recent studies on the level of
reclaimed parts sales and carbon
emission savings on a per part basis,”
said Michael. “This level of research
and learnings of the market will give
bene昀椀ts to the wider industry as the
use of recycled parts increases.”
In the last 18 months Halo Accident
Repair Centres has signi昀椀cantly
increased the number of recycled parts
it uses. “Our green parts purchase has
increased by 40% for 2023 compared
to 2022, and is again on the increase,”
said Jon Parker, Managing Director,
Halo Accident Repair Centres.
“We have a dedicated Green Parts
Specialist who concentrates on
sourcing reclaimed parts for all of our
33 sites, plus all of our sites are now
under instruction to source green parts
wherever possible.”
Halo typically 昀椀ts green parts on about
10% of repairs. “Our company rule is
to only use VRA certi昀椀ed suppliers so
that the parts are traceable and it is
known where they originated,” said
Matthew Porter, Halo’s Green Parts
Specialist. “We try to use green parts
on all jobs where possible, usually
doors, tailgates, bumpers, bonnets,
and parts on back-order or that are no
longer available. However, we don’t
tend to 昀椀t front bumpers, as they can
be severely damaged with stone chips,
and require more remedial work than
they are worth.”
Halo is fully in tune with the bene昀椀ts
of using green parts – environmental,
client requirements and cost savings.
“Sustainability is a key part of our
business, and the ‘green’ solution ticks
a lot of boxes,” said Matthew. “In my
experience most vehicle owners accept
the use of green parts and in many
cases this is now mandated in the
insurance policy terms. ESG is a subject
that is becoming more important from
our end-customers’ point of view.”
LV= GI encourages its network repairers to promote
recycled parts to customers as part of their focus
for an environmental repair claim journey.
as two to three days for delivery can
signi昀椀cantly affect our target 2.5
day k2k time. Long delivery times
unfortunately force us to either go to
non-OE, or OEM parts.”
Parts are generally sourced using
dedicated portals for SYNETIQ, Hills
Green Parts Specialists and eBay for
Business. “We then have other VRA
certi昀椀ed suppliers who we email/
telephone requests to, but the
challenge is to build a portfolio of
suppliers in order to maximise our
green footprint,” said Matthew. “Green
parts can arrive damaged, and when
they do, in most cases we repair these
parts so they can be 昀椀tted to the
vehicle being repaired. Because the
parts are categorised, we’re able to
understand the value of the part prior
to ordering it. Some suppliers still need
to work on their ‘next day’ delivery,
SYNETIQ stocks around 360,000 certi昀椀ed parts for crash repair
which are up to 75% cheaper than an equivalent OE part.
Like Halo, The Vella Group only 昀椀ts
VRA certi昀椀ed parts. “The VRA scheme
is good, it is simple to understand
and gives assurance to all parties
involved in the repair that the parts
sourced are of the required quality,
with the provenance of the part linked
to the donor vehicle,” said Marc
Holding, Managing Director, The Vella
Group. “We work closely with several
green parts suppliers; SYNETIQ, The
Green Parts Specialists and eBay
and generally engage with these
green parts suppliers through their
portals and platforms,” he continued.
“Providing the repair contract allows
the use of green or reclaimed parts,
and we believe it is safe to do so, we
operate a green-昀椀rst approach to parts
procurement. We have been using this
approach since 2018. Data from our
largest green parts suppliers shows
that our conversion rate has doubled
since the beginning of 2024.
“Parts availability remains our biggest
challenge,” added Marc. “At the
point of placing the parts order, we
may subsequently 昀椀nd that a green
part may be unavailable, and it is
impossible to predict when this part
will become available to order.”
Michael Golding concludes that the
recycled parts market has begun to
make a more noticeable uptake since
Covid. “The recyclers themselves are
engaging with the accident repair
industry and understand the demand
and opportunity within that market,”
he said. “Again, this creates choice
and opportunities for the industry.
There is still a relatively low uptake in
comparison to the total basket of new
parts, however it will grow as recycled
parts become more widely accepted
and the bene昀椀ts understood.”
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