Scania Brazil’s circular vision gives bottles a second life as truck grilles
7 MAY 2025
By transforming discarded plastic bottles into truck grilles, Scania Industrial Operations in Brazil is putting circularity into motion, cutting 62 tonnes of CO₂ emissions each year.
At Scania, circularity is key to a sustainable future. We maximise resource use, minimise waste across our value chain, and use our modular system to extend product life and enable smarter reuse. By replacing virgin materials with recycled PET plastic, we not only reduce environmental impact but also transform our perception of waste. Clever design can drive real change and add value throughout our vehicles’ lifecycles.
One great example? Let’s take you to Scania in Brazil.
Recycled PET grille innovation
At our plant in São Bernardo do Campo, something rather remarkable is happening. Our colleagues in Procurement have identified a way to replace virgin plastic with recycled PET. Yes, the kind used in bottles to make the front grille on every truck we build there.
“This is not our first initiative in this direction and will not be the last. We’re working in line with Scania’s global direction, guided by the core value of ‘elimination of waste’ and aiming to contribute to a circular economy. We’re challenging our people, operations, and entire sector to think differently,” says Patricia Acioli, Director of Communication and Sustainability, Scania Latin America.
The truck’s front grille, known in automotive jargon as the “T-bone”, now features recycled PET plastic. As a result of this innovative initiative, about 1.5 million PET bottles are saved from landfills or incinerators annually, based on a production of 30 thousand vehicles per year. It’s like giving trash a second chance, right on the front line of transport innovation.
Each grille is made from five kilos of plastic, a mix of polycarbonate (PC) and polyethylene terephthalate (PET), with PET making up 20% of the composition. Previously sourced in virgin form, one kilo of PET is now recycled, roughly equivalent to 50 plastic bottles per truck. This switch keeps waste out of the environment, cuts CO₂ emissions by 62 tonnes annually, and reduces energy use by 16% compared to virgin materials.
The strength of partnership
This achievement is powered through partnership! Scania’s Procurement team in Brazil collaborated with suppliers who collect and process post-consumer PET bottles. These bottles are cleaned, transformed, and blended with polycarbonate to make a high-quality plastic mix, perfect for our grilles.
The shift toward more sustainable plastic marks a key step in circularity. Scania Brazil shows how circular thinking cuts emissions by turning waste into new materials, reducing the footprint of plastic production and supporting a cleaner future—one bottle at a time.
