Circular Economy

Whether it's steel, aluminum, batteries, or electronics – our trucks and buses are made of valuable materials that we want to keep in circulation for as long as possible. Through closed material cycles, we aim to minimize the environmental impact of our products. Our goal is to use resources efficiently, avoid waste, and minimize environmental impact throughout the entire value chain.

Our Commitment at a Glance

Ecodesign Initiative:

With our Ecodesign Guideline, we consistently drive circular economy in product development.
93% Recyclability:

The theoretical recyclability of our vehicles – across all brands and products – is 93% of the total weight. For our battery-electric models Mercedes-Benz eActros, the city bus Mercedes-Benz eCitaro, and the Freightliner eCascadia, it is even higher at up to 97%.
Reworking of HV Batteries:

Starting in 2025, Mercedes-Benz Trucks will use reconditioned high-voltage batteries for the Mercedes-Benz eActros 300/400 and the eEconic.
Remanufacturing:

Through remanufacturing used parts, we require less energy and raw materials compared to producing new parts. This contributes to a positive environmental balance.

Holistic Concept of Circular Economy

The global demand for natural resources is continuously increasing. This has implications for the environment and society.

We are committed to a holistic approach to the circular economy and focus on the following areas: redesign, waste reduction, repair and reuse of components, remanufacturing, and recycling of vehicles, components, and materials. This enables us to conserve valuable resources, reduce waste, and extend the service life of products.

Our approach is complemented by a consistent consideration of resource inflows and outflows to close material cycles as completely as possible. This way, we contribute step by step to reducing our ecological footprint and making Daimler Truck more resilient – today and in the future.

Goals for a Closed Economic Cycle

The goal of a circular economy is to preserve the value of products, components, and materials for as long as possible. Daimler Truck pursues a clear vision: use resources efficiently, avoid waste, and close material cycles. This creates the basis for a sustainable value chain while simultaneously reducing our ecological footprint. Our goal is to ensure, in close collaboration with our suppliers, production sites, and customers, that materials remain in circulation for longer.

Our Path to Circular Economy

REDESIGN - Rethinking Products, Directing Resource Flows

A central instrument is our Ecodesign Guideline – it directly contributes to existing strategies and company-wide goals. The Ecodesign Guideline embraces this aspiration and translates it into concrete principles and recommendations for product development. This creates a robust foundation to anchor circular economy in the development process long-term and effectively, an important impulse for sustainable innovation in our company.
REDUCE - Avoiding Production Waste

A responsible approach to resources also means using reusable packaging and avoiding waste as much as possible. We are continuously working to reduce raw material and resource consumption at our sites. To achieve this goal, we optimize our production processes and thereby reduce cuttings, sands, filter materials, or sludges.

In disposal, we also pursue a clear principle: recovery takes precedence over disposal. Our experts regularly review how disposal routes can be improved so that waste can be reused as high-quality as possible.
REPAIR, REUSE, REMANUFACTURING & REWORKING - Extending Lifespan

We design our vehicles so that components can be easily replaced and repaired.

Furthermore, we rely on remanufacturing: old components such as engines, transmissions, or batteries are reconditioned to match new parts. This allows us to recondition trucks in the used market to a high standard – for example, as "Mercedes-Benz Trucks Certified" or "Detroit®Reman".
REPURPOSE & SECOND LIFE - New Tasks for Used Components

Even after use in the vehicle, high-voltage batteries still have a lot of potential. Therefore, we are developing solutions to reuse used batteries meaningfully – for example, as stationary energy storage. One example is a research project with a customer in Hanover: a storage unit with more than 500 kWh stabilizes the tram network there and enables efficient fast charging of electric buses. We are also examining in the USA how battery modules with lower performance status can be used for grid support.
RECYCLING - Returning Materials to the Cycle

Recycling is a central element of our circular economy. Our goal: to use only recyclable materials in the long term – thus closing the material cycles. For this, we rely on recycling-friendly design, specialized disposal routes, and the increased use of recyclates.

Practical examples show how this works: We remove the sheathing from copper cables before disposal and thereby increase recycling efficiency. At the Gaggenau site, we collect overspray from the painting process and reuse it almost entirely.

But not all materials can be fully returned. Therefore, we systematically analyze material flows to identify and reduce losses – especially of critical raw materials. Our goal: closed material cycles with minimal outflow into thermal recovery or landfilling.

Our Ambitions at a Glance:

We want to increasingly operate our value creation in a circular and regenerative manner – by keeping materials in circulation, using resources efficiently, and consistently reducing waste.
We have set the goal of achieving a waste recovery rate of more than 95 percent at our production sites by 2030.
By 2030, we want to reduce 40 kt of waste and increase the recycling rate in our global production network to up to 95 percent.