It seems that, this week at least that, all trucks are rubbish!
Well not exactly rubbish but at least specialising in trucks that remove waste.
As you may have red elsewhere in this week’s Truck eNews, Mercedes is highlighting its electric eEconic at the ReGen 2023 in Sydney this week, while Swedish brand Scania will also be showing off its low emission truck technology at the waste industry expo, but says that it will also demonstrate how deeply the global truck and bus maker is committed to sustainability and circularity.
Scania says that on its stand will be the latest 2025-model 460 P 8×4 rigid truck fitted with a HIAB hooklift, which the company says is ideal for urban waste bin transportation.
Scania says the truck is fitted with the latest generation six-cylinder Scania Super engine that has reduced fuel consumption and emissions by at least 8 per cent compared with Scania’s previous, already efficient engines.
Scania says that efficiency in operation is not its sole focus, as the company works to meets its obligations under the latest environmental reduction schemes. Scania says these are focused on low emission component manufacturing and vehicle assembly, areas where for many years it has expended lots of energy.
Scania claims it is now leading the world by installing remanufactured gearboxes into some new trucks on its production line in Sweden, to give a second life to refurbished products, which it says reduces the consumption of natural resources and the energy needed to produce major components.
Scania claims that reusing 50 per cent of the parts in the gearbox cuts carbon emissions by up to 45 peer cent for the unit.
It claims the ‘remanufactured’ gearbox parts are subjected to the same rigorous 
testing as new parts, to make sure they meet its quality and performance standards.
Scania points out that it has long been remanufacturing key components and sold them back into the aftermarket as ‘remanufactured’, but now the company is fitting these parts to new production line vehicles.
Remanufacturing in the European automotive sector has until now been confined to the aftermarket, which accounts for just 1.1 per cent of new manufacturing according to a report by the European Remanufacturing Network.
At Scania’s factory in São Bernardo do Campo, Brazil another example of another piece of enterprising innovation is found
At the Brazilian factory a proportion of ‘virgin’ materials are replaced by recycled PET plastic in the manufacture of such things as front grille components. The company says this reduces environmental impact, and also transforms the perception of waste, estimating that it saves around 1.5 million PET bottles from landfill or incinerators annually, based on production of 30 thousand vehicles per year.
The company says that CO2 emission saving totals around 62 tonnes annually, claiming around 16 per cent less energy being required, compared with using 100 per cent virgin materials.
Scania claims it is also aiming to turn 20,000 tonnes of used sand from its foundry into useful mortar, rather than sending it to landfill. Again, the company claims that saving virgin materials will enhance circularity at both Scania and the mortar maker.
Scania says its clothing range is also made from recycled plastics, woven into polyester garments, while organically grown cotton is used for such things as T-shirts.The company says that Scania is constantly looking for alternatives when it comes to raw materials. It says that it uses a mix of organic cotton and recycled materials, even using old coffee grounds, in its garments’ manufacture.
“At Scania, we believe that being a sustainable business depends on adopting a more circular economic model, where the use of existing resources is maximised, and waste is minimised all along the value chain,” Scania Australia managing director, Manfred Streit said.
“Circular business aligns with our core value of elimination of waste, as well as our lean production system and our modularisation approach. Circularity challenges us to rethink not just how we design and manufacture products, our impact and knowledge of the value chain, but also how we develop business models and provide value for our customers.
“Therefore, we are taking actions to gain a deeper understanding of the opportunities of a circular approach in the different parts of our value chain,” he said.
In practical terms Scania believes this involves working with the supply chain, extending the life of products, optimising the use of resources and energy, maintaining product value as high as possible, remanufacturing spare parts and promoting reuse of components and recycling at the end-of-life product phase.
“As Scania leads the shift to a sustainable and electrified transport system, we are also exploring business opportunities around second life applications, recycling and reusing batteries and raw materials,” Streit said .
Scania also said that decreasing CO2 emissions is another one of its key objective for its goal of circularity.
“We see circularity as a key enabler for decarbonisation. Virgin material production is energy intense, which is why every time we can, we avoid using virgin material, and instead reuse, remanufacture or recycle. In this way we save both natural resources and CO2 emissions,” Streit said.
“So, when you become a Scania customer, you are benefiting not only from our engineering prowess, and our safety and engine efficiency, but also the wider story of our circularity investments for the benefit of the planet,” he added.
Scania’s global business developer for the circular economy, Michael Lieder, explains why this focus is so important for the truck and bus maker.
“Circularity is the next big frontier in sustainability as it decouples business growth from resource use,” said Lieder,
It’s also vital for our business, because as the earth’s resources dwindle, competition for key materials such as rare earth minerals becomes more intense, leading to price volatility and supply challenges,” he added.
“Adopting a circular business model ensures that we have access to the materials we need, and that we stay competitive by keeping product costs down, and it also opens big opportunities to create value for our customers along the vehicle lifecycle. In other words, we can’t afford not to do it!”
Scania says it will present its waste industry solutions at the ReGen Expo at Sydney’s ICC from tomorrow Wednesday 23 July , concluding on Thursday 25th July.
