death is optional when you're a jet engine or a printer cartridge.
means the industrial process of disassembling a used product down to its parts and rebuilding it to perform like new, not just cleaning it up.
from the term hardened into an industry during 1940s postwar auto parts shortages, when rebuilding starters and alternators to factory spec became cheaper than smelting new steel, and by the 1980s it had grown into a formal engineering discipline with its own tolerances and standards.
caterpillar reman — rebuilds engines and transmissions, sells alongside new at lower price
ge aviation engines — overhauls jet turbines to zero-time new condition for airlines
hp toner cartridges — remanufactures ink cartridges as part of its circular program
xerox equipment — pioneered asset recovery programs for copiers starting in the 1990s