What goes around comes around with Volvo’s waste-not ethics
It may have had no previous owners but even if you bought a Volvo truck first hand straight from an official dealer, that vehicle might not be as new as you’d expect.
Don’t be alarmed, it’s no scam but an upshot of the Swedish manufacturer’s decision to embrace the recycling of old trucks.
At the Volvo Truck Center just outside Gothenburg, Sweden, trucks passed their useful lifespan are taken apart – bolt by bolt – and much of their materials are recycled. Up to a third of a new vehicle’s total weight will consist of recycled metals.
The best parts of an expired truck will be sold on the used vehicle market and all the remaining material that can not be sold will be put into containers marked separately for iron, aluminium, brass, copper, plastic, combustible and so on.
It’s all part of Volvo’s sustainable process that benefits both economy and the company’s environmental footprint, says sales representative Mikael Olofsson.
“The biggest advantage of this approach, from both environmental and personal perspectives, is that the materials live on,” he commented.
It takes six to seven days to dismantle a truck and clean all the parts to a fit resalable state, but it’s all worthwhile adds Volvo Trucks’ environmental affairs director Lars Mårtensson.
“We have to consider the environment, our resources and future generations,” he explained. “What’s more, there are sound financial reasons for the customer to recycle the truck. We try to aid that process as much as possible by, for instance, providing detailed instructions with each truck on how it is to be recycled.”
Kenneth Olsson, a member of the team which dismantles the trucks, said: “We often send gearboxes and rear axles for remanufacture, but engines are often regarded as too expensive to rebuild. Instead, we clean them thoroughly. They look good, we’re really proud of them.”
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