The Future is a Circle
Sustainable growth
Circular design and scaling up circular services are integral to this transformation.
To drive sustainable growth, TRATON is taking steps from clarifying strategy to accelerating action.
Karol Gobczyński
“At TRATON, circularity isn’t just about minimizing impact, it’s about redefining what’s possible. Across all of our four brands, we are driving a circular future where profitability and sustainability go hand in hand.“
Role: Head of Climate and Circularity at the TRATON GROUP
Mission: Decoupling resource use from business growth, meaning expanding the business with less resource use for every unit of economic activity
Strategy: Integrating circular design principles and fostering cross-brand collaboration to drive sustainable growth across the TRATON GROUP’s four brands
Every end marks a new beginning
In response, the TRATON GROUP is increasingly focusing on integrating circular practices such as the use of recycled and renewable materials, offering remanufactured parts, and circular design. This approach enhances sustainability across the vehicle lifetime while elevating innovation standards for the global transportation industry.
In circularity, every end is a new beginning, emphasizing the potential of waste as a valuable resource. Beyond the environmental benefits, which include vast reductions in resource use, greenhouse gas emissions and pollution, circularity also offers economic advantages. “It’s about creating new profit pools, reaching new customers, being more resilient, and addressing supply chain challenges head-on by creating systems that are more adaptive, resource-efficient, and less dependent on volatile external factors,” says Gobczyński. “We have seen first-hand how remanufacturing, repairing, and refurbishing offer a profitable alternative to the current ‘take-make-waste’ resource use model.”
At its core, the TRATON GROUP’s circularity commitment aims to decouple resource use from business growth, meaning the business can continue to thrive without a corresponding rise in environmental harm. To achieve this, the company is transitioning its fleet to electric power, improving engine efficiency to lower fuel consumption, and working to cut waste across product lifecycle through integrating more circular design.
A ‘better together’ approach
Collaboration across the Group, value chain, and beyond is vital for systemic circularity. In 2024, the TRATON brands prioritized four action areas, where they will work together to improve circularity.
Reduce resource consumption and waste in own operations and throughout the value chain.
Increase the reused, recycled and renewable content in our products.
Optimize the lifetime and utilization rate of vehicles through circular design and services.
Put circularity in the center of business model and partnerships development.
Reduce resource consumption and waste
Reused, recycled and renewable content
Optimize the lifetime and utilization rate
Business model and partnerships development
“Sharing best practices and reducing redundancies is key,” says Gobczyński. “For example, by developing remanufacturing definitions jointly across the brands, we make it easier to collaborate internally and send the same message to our business partners and suppliers.” Gobczyński also highlights the importance of collaborative initiatives to scale up the circular ecosystem.
In 2024, a set of circular design principles was launched to ensure that circularity is embedded in the vehicle designs from the outset. These principles facilitate the use of recycled content and enhance recyclability, durability, remanufacturability, repairability, and other circular services. Initial measurements for the first circular principles have been developed, with further integration planned for the coming years.
Finally, a Code of Conduct for Suppliers and Business Partners encourages all TRATON GROUP partners to prioritize recycled materials, share data on recycled content with TRATON when needed, and embrace circularity by extending product life and optimizing resource use.
Circularity in 2025 and beyond
Looking ahead, TRATON will continue to prioritize circular economy initiatives with a focus on resource efficiency and sustainable growth. The Group will work towards expanding its use of recycled and renewable materials embedded into the products, grow its circular services like remanufacturing to reach more customers, and work closely with policymakers to create an environment where circularity can flourish. TRATON will also explore ways to innovate around new business models, such as product-as-a-service, alongside promoting the development of new skills in the circular economy.
Circularity in action
Extending gearbox lifespans
Scania has a remanufacturing flow for gearboxes, restoring them to full working condition and reducing the need for new materials. Additionally, Scania partners with suppliers to increase the use of recycled content in parts.
Giving engines a second life
At MAN’s Nuremberg factory, used engines are rebuilt to work like new, reducing waste and the need for raw materials. This process creates high-value jobs and additional revenue.
New life to worn products
Granting new life to worn products, International regularly sells and distributes approximately 3,000 remanufactured parts annually. Four central facilities collect and refurbish parts to support circularity — and their goal is to generate 20% of parts revenue from remanufactured parts.
Using greener materials
At Volkswagen Truck & Bus, renewable polymers are being developed to replace fossil-fuel-based materials in some vehicle components.
“By starting to integrate circularity into the design process, we prepare our vehicles for future business opportunities and legal demands, using TRATON collaboration as foundation for innovations.”
Michael Lieder
Circular Business Expert at Scania
“The growing interest of MAN customers in sustainable solutions is shown by rising sales of our MAN remanufacturing portfolio and requests for circular practices. We’re expanding our portfolio and creating new sustainable products and processes to enhance environmental sustainability.”
Vanessa Reinarz
Head of Product Management Genuine Parts at MAN Truck & Bus SE
“The Remanufacturing Task Force, uniting all TRATON brands, is fostering collaboration, trust, and strategic progress towards an increasingly profitable and cooperative remanufacturing approach.”
Ann Marie Manos
Director of Advanced Service Strategy and Engineering at International
“It is really a matter of cultural transformation. We work with the mindset that circularity reduces our resources dependence and shorten our way to decarbonization. Bioeconomy and renewable materials have a huge potential in this journey.”
Priscila Rocha
Head of Sustainability at Volkswagen Truck & Bus
“Every component we remanufacture, every material we reuse, is a step toward a system where nothing goes to waste, and everything serves a purpose.”
The TRATON Modular System (TMS) brings the TRATON GROUP’s brands together by using shared components and interfaces. It’s a smarter, more efficient way to work while making it easier to reuse and adapt solutions, supporting the company’s circularity goals.
