Image: Daimler Truck AGAt this year’s IFAT in Munich, Mercedes-Benz Trucks presented the ReEconic recycling refuse truck study, one of the event’s most prominent premieres. The project brings together 33 partners and focuses not only on the construction of the one-off vehicle, but also on testing and monitoring its performance in real-world operation. The partners aim to investigate how recycled materials – particularly in the interior, panelling and glazing – can be reused and integrated into future series production.What could be more fitting than a battery-electric refuse truck as a demonstrator? Christian Wilz, Germany CEO of Mercedes-Benz Trucks & Fuso, described the ReEconic as ‘a vehicle that has, in a sense, collected itself.’The project brings the circular economy closer to production—’from cradle to grave.’ The focus lies on recycled, natural, and bio-based materials. The durability and suitability of these innovations will be tested in the second half of 2026 at Remondis in Frankfurt am Main, where the vehicle will face the daily demands of refuse collection. As revealed at the trade fair, the truck had already been in prototype use before its conversion—specifically in Hamburg. Now, as the ReEconic, it joins the FEV fleet on the River Main.TSG Group came up with the ideaThe partners state that they built the battery-electric refuse collection vehicle based on the Mercedes-Benz eEconic with a strong focus on resource efficiency. Mercedes-Benz Trucks, refuse vehicle specialist Faun Umwelttechnik and recycling company TSR Group are leading the project among the 33 participants. According to the partners, TSR Group also initiated the project. The remaining partners mainly come from the recycling raw material extraction, semi-finished product manufacturing, component production, and metal, plastic, glass and wood processing sectors.What was the outcome of this collaboration? In the ReEconic’s body structure, chassis, bodywork, and interior fittings—including seats, dashboard, and trim elements—individual components were replaced with resource-efficient alternatives.“Using these components as examples, the partners demonstrate how supply chains and production processes should be designed to ensure the successful use of these materials,” the team explained. The project partners used CO₂e-reduced recycled steel, recycled aluminium, various recycled and bio-based plastics, recycled glass, and beechwood from certified forestry areas. Let’s break it down:The front axle and the two longitudinal beams of the ReEconic are made from CO₂e-reduced steel. The flat steel used for the longitudinal beams was produced using innovative electric arc furnace technology and has an average recycled content of 88 per cent. For the forged steel used in the axle body, a recycling rate of 97 per cent was achieved.The cab frame and battery impact protection are largely made from recycled aluminium, processed using extrusion. The aluminium components installed contain a total of at least 75 per cent post-consumer recycled material. Post-consumer recycled material refers to recycling material derived from used products.The developers also replaced some of the conventional, petroleum-based plastics and fibre-based reinforcement materials used in the standard vehicle with a broader range of more sustainable alternatives in the ReEconic. Recycled polymers, reused fillers, and fittings made from natural and bio-based materials serve as resource-efficient alternatives.For example, the footwell trim uses natural fibre-reinforced polylactide (PLA) as a bio-based fibre composite material. The seat upholstery is made from recycled polyamide derived from carpet waste and old fishing nets. The filler for the wing is a recycled thermoset plastic, typically used in wind turbine rotor blades and boat and vehicle manufacturing due to its dimensional stability. The display mount is made from a bio-based filler derived from sunflower oil production waste, and the dashboard is made from lignin-based plastics.Additionally, 64 per cent of the glass surfaces used throughout the vehicle are made from recycled material (only the glass for the side and front mirrors, as well as the display covers, came from standard production).The ReEconic also marks the first time wood has been used in a modern commercial vehicle from Mercedes-Benz Trucks. In the ReEconic, elements in the floor, wheel arch, and wing are made from beechwood. In the specially constructed driver’s cab, a seat shell and the cab roof are also made from wood.The circular concept vehicle is also equipped with a special FAUN body (reNew VARIOPRESS), which is partly made from recycled materials.The partners supplemented these and other components used in the vehicle with forecasts and projections to determine how the proportion of recycled materials could theoretically be further increased.“Overall, the combination of installed components and the study results show that, theoretically, around 80 per cent of the materials steel, aluminum, glass, and plastic could be replaced with recycled materials and natural and bio-based materials,” the project leaders state. These so-called main material groups (steel, aluminium, glass, and plastic) account for a total of 6.5 tonnes of the standard series eEconic’s gross weight. “In absolute terms, this means that, using the available production processes and materials, up to 5.2 tons could theoretically be substituted in the future,” the Stuttgart-based team said. TÜV Süd has certified the values and methodology in this regard.Batteries excluded from calculations—for nowRoland Dold, Project Manager for the ReEconic at Mercedes-Benz Trucks, recently stated at the IFAT trade fair that his team considers the 80 per cent figure ‘extremely realistic.’ However, the three 100 kWh battery packs are not included in the aforementioned main material groups. Maintaining these within the circular economy is challenging, as while recycling is feasible, the recovery processes are currently scarcely established in Europe, Dold explains. The primary focus of building a circular economy is securing production within Europe.While the ReEconic now enters its testing phase, the partner companies are already exploring how the insights gained from the project could be integrated into series production. No concrete decisions have been made yet, but the goal is to ‘enable the industrial scaling of recycled production processes in the future. Daimler Truck aims to further expand its collaborative partnerships,’ the statement reads. The findings are, of course, intended to be applied across all truck series.“Together with our European partners, we have done pioneering work in the field of material recycling and the use of natural materials and bio-based alternative products in commercial vehicle manufacturing. It consists, among other things, of materials with a history—from fishing nets to automotive parts,” Dold summarised. “Even after the end of their useful life, many of these components can be converted back into their raw materials and reused—that is the circular economy in its purest form. We expect to be able to incorporate our findings and experience into series production so that more trucks with high recycled content will hit the roads in the future.”“We initiated this project because closed-loop systems can only be created if they are conceived and implemented collaboratively across the entire value chain,” Bernd Fleschenberg, COO of the TSR Group, added. “This conserves resources, significantly reduces energy consumption, and lowers CO₂ emissions. At the same time, it strengthens the resilience of industrial supply chains and reduces dependence on global raw material markets. ReEconic thus serves as a model for an industrial circular economy that combines raw material security with sustainability.”daimlertruck.com
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