Hydro is supplying low-carbon, recycled aluminum profiles to Mercedes-Benz Trucks for their reECONIC project. The reECONIC is an electric battery powered waste collection truck, developed with more than 30 partners to demonstrate circular vehicle manufacturing. Based on the Mercedes‑Benz eEconic, the project applies circular thinking from material sourcing to end of life recyclability. Recycled aluminum plays a key roll in reducing emissions, thus demonstrating how materials can be kept in closed loops while meeting demanding safety, quality, and performance requirements.
“The reECONIC project shows how circular design and low-carbon materials can go hand in hand,” said Paul Warton, executive vice president of Hydro Extrusions. “By delivering extruded profiles made from Hydro CIRCAL, we are transforming end of life aluminum scrap into high performance components for the next generation of electric vehicles. This is a concrete example of how circular aluminum solutions can help decarbonize mobility.”
For the reECONIC project, Hydro supplied 31 different extruded parts totaling 600 kg. All the profiles are made from Hydro CIRCAL, Hydro’s range of recycled aluminum with a minimum 75% post-consumer scrap content and has a certified carbon footprint as low as 1.9 kg CO₂/kg Al. The aluminum components are used in structural and safety critical applications, proving that high recycled content aluminum can support advanced vehicle design, while significantly reducing the carbon footprint of materials.
“Sustainability is an integral part of our strategy, which we are implementing in this project alongside strong partners,” noted Achim Puchert, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Trucks. “We are pursuing the clear goal of decarbonizing our products. With the reECONIC, we are demonstrating a concrete path toward a more sustainable value chain in vehicle production.”
The Hydro CIRCAL billets used in this project were produced at Hydro’s recycling facility in Ghlin, Belgium, with the profiles extruded, machined, and anodized at Hydro’s extrusion sites in Harderwijk, Netherlands, and Trzcianka, Poland.
The complete reECONIC vehicle is being exhibited at IFAT in Munich, the world’s leading trade fair for environmental technologies, where visitors can see how recycled, natural, and bio based materials are applied across the vehicle. In addition, a separate reECONIC driver’s cab, built for development purposes, is displayed at the Mercedes-Benz Trucks booth, highlighting key materials and components through cross sections and digital information.
Hydro will further highlight its contribution to the reECONIC project and its broader portfolio of circular aluminum solutions at ALUMINIUM 2026 in Dusseldorf in October, demonstrating how low-carbon aluminum can enable circular manufacturing across industries, from mobility to building and construction.