The shift to a Circular Economy (CE) is crucial for addressing resource scarcity, price volatility, and environmental impacts. By 2030, CE could reduce the EU's material consumption by 32% and greenhouse gas emissions by 48%. However, remanufacturing which is a key strategy in CE remains low, with a remanufacturing intensity of just 1.1%, in the EU automotive sector. SCANIA, like other OEMs, remanufactures limited components, while truck cabins, with their complex material mixes and high emissions, remain largely unexplored in terms of circularity. Most cabin components, including up to 300 kg of plastics per cabin, are incinerated or landfilled at end-of-life (EoL). There is an economic and environmental opportunity in reusing, refurbishing, or recycling cabin components. To optimize cabin circularity and business potential, understanding current material flows and developing a circular business model is critical. The CIRCAB project aimed at studying the feasibility of enhancing cabin circularity by creating an ecosystem with value chain partners to optimize material handling at every stage. The CIRCAB project concluded with its intended outcomes, including extensive knowledge about the current state of plastic flows across different actors, industrial best practices, business drawbacks and the potential for reusing plastic components from production and end-of-life (EoL) trucks, technological limitations and opportunities in recycling, and legal frameworks promoting the circularity of plastics used in the automotive sector. The CIRCAB project has concluded with a strong urge and commitment for a radical shift that is needed to enhance the circularity of plastic components.
Asif et al. (Wed,) studied this question.