Any heavy industrial process has byproducts and truck manufacturing is no different. The uninitiated wouldn’t think that 20,000 tonnes of used sand are produced each year from the Scania foundry that casts engine components. Typically this sand would have headed for landfill, but from this year three truck loads a day will be sent to a Weber Saint-Gobain factory for mortar manufacturing some 150kms away, using trucks that have delivered to the Scania factory and would otherwise return empty.

“To be efficient with the limited resources we have on Earth, and prolong their lifespan is a way to lessen the impact on the environment. Re-using the large amounts of sand that are used in the casting of engine components is one of many actions that enables Scania to remain in the lead of the transition to sustainable transports,” says Fredrik Nilzén, Head of Sustainability, Scania.

Scania's used foundry sand
“Re-using the large amounts of sand that are used in the casting of engine components is one of many actions that enables Scania to remain in the lead of the transition to sustainable transports”

The cooperation means less virgin sand has to be extracted. The positive environmental impact is immediate. “With the sand from Scania, we lessen the use of virgin sand with 30 percent, and the potential is even greater. The ambition is to have substituted all the virgin sand in our products with alternative aggregates by 2035,” says Anders Anderberg R&D Director, Weber Saint-Gobain.

Scania has a history of collaborating with other innovative players, and welcomes initiatives where the company can work across industries. “Our values are shared by many, and the opportunity to leverage each other’s expertise to create a society that benefits everyone should not be missed,” says Nilzén.