A Scania R 410 drives recyclable containers on biogas

11 NOVEMBER 2020

During 2019, Returpack, which handles the Swedish deposit systems for metal cans and recyclable PET bottles, helped save 180,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Naturally, Returpack wants its deposited containers to be shipped as climate-friendly as possible. That’s why the haulier Långås Åkeri operates its Scania R 410 on renewable liquified biogas.

Långås collects compressed containers from Returpack’s depots in western Sweden for transport to its plant in Norrköping, 160 km south of Stockholm. The truck and trailer are filled with many thousand empty containers that are sorted and subsequently sold for recycling into new bottles and cans.

Långås Åkeri, with a fleet of 13 trucks, is based in a village on the Swedish west coast with the same name. In 1936, Anders Petersson started the company with an American International truck specialising in hauling potatoes. His son, 81-year old Curt, inherited the firm and continued driving professionally until two years ago. “These are very different times,” he says. “Nowadays, we have tachograph records and such but in my day we were always on the move.”

Långås Åkeri operates a 1,000 square metre warehouse and a truck wash hall half that size but lacks an office. The office is run from home by Curt’s daughter Ann-Charlotte, who is one of the owners together with her brothers and brother-in-law Jörgen Johansson.

Jörgen Johansson in his cab

Johansson, who himself drives the truck with deposited containers, joined the family business following a career in furniture. He retains his interest in decorating and has single-handedly decorated the fleet cabs as cosy home environments.

“The gas truck works well and although Scania’s new cabs are very silent, this cab is even quieter. And the driveability doesn’t differ in any significant way from the diesel trucks,” he says.

The biogas fuel consumption is low

However, he points out that he could use more than the 410 hp at his disposal. The power is more than enough for the 10–12 tonnes of compressed containers but the loads coming back from Norrköping can weigh more.

Johansson finds that the biogas fuel consumption is even lower than Långås’ Scania R 520, which is renowned for its low fuel consumption. The truck is filled daily in Norrköping and there are presently ambitious plans to expand the network of liquified biogas billing stations in Sweden.

The gas-fuelled truck is not Långås only contribution to a lower climate impact. Their two other trucks that drive for Returpack operate on low-carbon biofuel HVO. So the family is well prepared for the future.