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Media release, September 4, 2024

Now out on the road: The first truck test fleet with circular tarps

Together with industry partners, FREITAG is developing a circular truck tarp that can be recycled after completing its second life as a FREITAG bag and thus ends up back in the loop. The first prototype has now completed its two-year test drive on a delivery van. At the same time, work continued apace on various material combinations. Both are bearing fruit: A fleet of trucks fitted with circular tarps recently has been undergoing an endurance test on the road.

FREITAG thinks and acts in cycles. This corporate philosophy manifests itself time and again in the successful closing of cycles. The most recent example was the Mono[PA6] Backpack, the first recyclable FREITAG backpack made without truck tarp from a single material. But one question arises again and again: What will it take to ensure that the truck tarps used to make most of the iconic bags and accessories will one day be circular and no longer end up as waste?

The answer is as simple as it is challenging: FREITAG will develop a circular truck tarp. And it will do that with various industrial partners in the materials, chemicals and composite sectors, as well as manufacturers, logistics companies and institutions in the materials-testing sectors and recycling industry. They all share the same vision and see the potential of the circular economy, which is why they work collectively and financially independently of each other. The search for the tarp of the future, which can one day be broken down into its basic constituents and recycled, was officially launched in fall 2021. Just one year later, the first prototypes were mounted on a delivery van and sent out on a two-year test drive. These pioneering tarps recently completed their maiden voyage, returned to FREITAG and are now providing valuable insights into the properties of the material and its recyclability.

First truck test fleet on the road
Meanwhile, the search for the perfect material continued in the background, and the work is bearing fruit: two sub-projects are now ready for the endurance test. And that’s why the circular tarps are now traveling around in convoys. In Planzer, a Swiss logistics company, FREITAG has found a partner in the road freight industry that fitted out six of its trucks and five trailers with two different test tarps. These will be on the road for varying lengths of time. By staggering the test periods, the material’s aging process can be tracked more precisely under everyday conditions. Thanks to the large amount of material involved, it will soon be possible to test downstream bag production steps, such as washing, cutting, and sewing at FREITAG, as well as the necessary approaches to recycling. Bieri Tenta AG, who are responsible for printing using the stencil printing process and equipping the tarps, invested many hours in extensive material tests to ensure they could be processed and carry signage. The made-to-measure tarp company drew on its extensive supplier network to realize the test fleet. Certain PES/TPU-compatible accessories were unavailable, so Bieri simply produced the necessary pasts themselves. For the lettering, the company opted for a highly flexible stencil printing ink and successfully overcame the challenge posed by the ink’s long drying time.

Material streams: two solutions already well advanced
Like its conventional predecessors, the new circular tarp will have a rugged base fabric and a soft, water- and dirt-repellent coating. Since the project kicked off in 2021, several possible material combinations have emerged that have been the focus of research by the various partners. Two highly advanced approaches are currently being put through their paces on the test fleet: PES/TPU and PP/PP.

• PES/TPU: ADVANCED AND TESTED
  The printed tarps attached to the sides of the test vehicles were manufactured by Heytex, a German-based company, from a polyester (PES) fabric coated with a thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) developed by materials specialists Covestro. The properties of this material combination have been vastly improved. The PES/TPU tarp has not only passed the EPEA* material health test, but already meets ISO side-curtain standards for 40-tonne trucks. Further development of the material has also improved its printability, handling characteristics and suitability for additional processing, all critical issues for the road freight industry and FREITAG. FREITAG is currently evaluating recycling processes for TPU/PES tarps with Covestro and Swiss recycling company DePoly SA.
   
• PP/PP: A LOW-PRICE MONO-MATERIAL
  The base fabric and outer coating of the tarps used for the roofs of the trucks and trailers is made of polypropylene (PP). This approach is convincing at several levels The PP/PP tarp is called Rivercyclon. It is a mono-material that is recyclable without the need for complex material separation and it is cost-effective. Initially, the material’s printability posed a challenge, but in the meantime the first successful digital prints have been completed together with tests with silkscreen and stencil prints. Dutch tarp manufacturer Rivertex is in charge of this approach, which holds an EPEA Circularity Passport® testifying to its high material health and recyclability.
   
• OTHER APPROACHES
  The main focus is currently on the two approaches mentioned, but work also continues on other solutions, and FREITAG is closely following developments on the market. Some players, for instance, focus on mono-material tarps made of PET/PET or TPU/TPU. FREITAG is also keeping a close eye on a promising research project involving several participants working on the development of a bio-based tarp. However, none of these approaches is yet mature enough for testing.

 
Marketability and success factors
It is not yet clear which of the various material combinations will result in commercially viable, circular truck tarps in the future. Apart from the enormous demands placed on the tarp regarding quality and circularity, marketability will play a decisive role in the project’s success. At a large round table meeting, FREITAG drafted various possible business models together with all the partners involved, but a precisely defined business case is still a long way off. The aim is to build a coherent and dynamic network that enables us to keep products and materials of the highest possible quality in circulation. Demonstrating the tarps’ circularity will be a crucial factor in making them successful, as will the information flow.
 
Transparency thanks to Circularity Passport® and the Digital Product Passport
To prove that products fulfill circularity criteria, EPEA is developing the so-called Circularity Passport® Product (CPP). Taking this as its guideline, the organization checks and evaluates the entire system behind a circular product, all the materials used and their recyclability, and provides an overall assessment of the degree of circularity. But to guarantee product’s circularity, it must be proven and as much relevant information as possible provided. Only this way a reverse logistics network can be created, aimed at regenerating value from tarps at the end of their life, transforming them into highly desirable one-of-a-kind bags.
 
The introduction of the Digital Product Passport (DPP) for truck tarps with a comprehensive data protocol developed and implemented by FREITAG and Bieri therefore represents a significant innovation. This contains all relevant information and thus ensures greater transparency with regard to material composition, production and origin. On the other hand, the aim is to simplify processes along the value chain thanks to information about the manufacturer and tarp specialist, the tarp’s age, and the recycling stream into which the material will one day be fed. The digital product passport attached to the inside of the tarps in the form of prints, while an RFID chip and QR code will provide virtual information about the tarp. The test fleet is already equipped with this system: the RFID-enabled software solution SKPident accompanies production and enables tracking throughout the entire lifecycle of the circular tarpaulins.
 
*EPEA - Part of Drees & Sommer evaluates materials using the Cradle to Cradle® approach and focuses on all-around material health for humans and the environment, technical recyclability and the implementation of a take-back system.

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Media release – Zurich, June 1, 2022

FREITAG sends the tarp of the future on its first test run

FREITAG is working with various industrial partners to develop a truck tarpaulin that, even after a long second life as a FREITAG bag, doesn’t end up in the garbage but back in the cycle. Research is in progress with various material combinations, each with its own unique advantages and the potential to meet exacting demands in terms of circularity and robustness. Something that only a short while ago was considered a big idea is being put into action: The very first prototype of a circular tarp is now into its first round of testing by being mounted on a small truck.

Just under two years ago, FREITAG initiated the development of a new kind of tarpaulin that would fully meet circularity criteria. Like the bags that would one day be made from it, the new material would not be merely recycled but also endlessly recyclable. And that means the tarps must first withstand the harsh conditions encountered on Europe’s transit routes. Subsequently, like their predecessors, they will be used as the source of unique, durable FREITAG products. But at the end of their days as bags, they shouldn’t have to be burned. The idea is that they should be broken down into their basic constituents and used again to create new items.

For its venture into the industry upstream of its bag-making business, FREITAG has strengthened itself internally with materials experts and circularity specialists. We found a wide range of interested industrial partners with knowledge of materials, chemicals and composites. And then we brought them together at a round table with the German EPEA's circularity experts and long-standing partners from the tarpaulin business. At this phase of the project, FREITAG saw and continues to see itself mainly as a matchmaker and spiritual co-driver of the great tarp revolution.

Like a conventional tarpaulin, the new circular version will consist of a robust fabric with a water- and dirt-repellent coating. What precisely these two components will consist of is the all-important question. First and foremost, the new tarp will have to withstand the rigors of being on the road. After that, it must be possible to revert it to its basic building blocks and reuse them to make something new. As the project unfolded, various development approaches with different partners and combinations of fabrics and coatings emerged. These were further developed, tested, discarded and supplemented by the parties involved.

Currently, we have four promising sub-projects for a circular truck tarp on the big roundtable, all at widely differing stages of development:

• THE (AS YET SMALL) MONOLITHIC VERSION
  Together with a partner who develops trims and materials for FREITAG, we are working on a tarpaulin made of PET. The goal – and also the main technical challenge here – is «monomateriality»: in other words, a tarpaulin that comprises only one material and can thus be recycled at the end of its life cycle without the need for the costly separation of fabric and coating. «This is not just an elegant solution in theory, but also an attractive and cost-efficient approach to recycling», says Bigna Salzmann, Circular Technologist with FREITAG, who is looking forward to the arrival of the first prototype compounds in Zurich very soon.
   
• THE BIO-BASED VERSION
  Collaboration with the German Fraunhofer Institute, the Linotech company and tarp producer Heytex has resulted in the development of several bio-based tarpaulin prototypes. However, the compounds of bio-based synthetic fibers with a coating of starch-based plastics are not yet sufficiently advanced to be successful during a test drive on a truck. «A tarp made of renewable raw materials would be a huge step towards a greener future, not just for the transport industry», says Anna Blattert, likewise a Circular Technologist with FREITAG, who hopes to hit upon a suitable bio-based compound soon. 
   
• THE POTENTIALLY REVOLUTIONARY VERSION
  While the first two tarpaulin projects are not yet advanced enough to have been tested by EPEA’s circularity specialists, a third option with a TPU (thermoplastic polyurethane) coating has already passed the materials health safety test. «As a chemicals company, we provide the basis for thousands of products and see it as our duty to speed up the transition to a circular economy. That's why it was immediately clear to us that we wanted to be involved in such an interesting cooperation project as FREITAG's right from the start», says Mark Scheller of Covestro, which, together with tarpaulin producer Heytex, is the main driving force behind this sub-project. At present, the TPU coating material is still being tested with a fabric made of PES (polyester). Since it may well be several years before PES/TPU compounds can be separated, the project team is working in parallel on an entirely new, revolutionary tarpaulin structure that could easily bypass this hurdle. «It's all about the tarps of the future. We are grateful to be part of this project because it fits with Heytex's sustainability strategy. Joint development with other industry partners helps us to get an overall view of the entire value chain, and that’s essential if we are to have a future based on circularity», says Henning Eichhorn of Heytex optimistically. 
   
• THE GAME CHANGER
  A significant step forward is the fourth and most recent development, which, to be strictly accurate, is more of a discovery: During the research stage, the project team came across a material that a Dutch company, Rivertex, had already developed. In this material, the fabric and coating are made of polypropylene, which ranks as one of the most sustainable of the petroleum-based plastics. The Rivertex developers likewise joined the project team and agreed to have the circularity of their product tested. «We’d been working for years on a robust, attractively priced and recyclable alternative to tarpaulin. So, naturally, we were delighted when the EPEA's Product Circularity Passport certified that our product had the highest levels of material health and recoverability. We firmly believe that our next generation of products will be even more suitable as truck tarpaulins, not least as a result of the findings from our test runs», says Roef Gaasbeek of Rivertex.
  
  It is, of course, a long stretch from a tarpaulin to a truck tarp. Which explains why Swiss tarp assembler Bieri came to be involved. They printed the designs on the Rivertex material, attached the straps and fitted it with eyelets so that the potential tarp revolution can also be firmly mounted on the small truck. So, now it’s making its rounds on the roads, come sun, wind or acid rain. This will show us how well the polypropylene material holds up as a truck tarp: whether it becomes brittle too quickly, for example, and not least whether and how well the tarp lettering adheres. This is vitally important not only for the haulage companies, but also for FREITAG. Because ultimately, one day, the tarps will be used to make the company’s much-sought-after unique bags.
   

BEING THE FASTEST DOESN’T ALWAYS MEAN BEING FIRST
At this point it is impossible to predict which of the four sub-projects and which materials will one day result in the first commercial, circular truck tarp. Perhaps there will be more than one alternative to the existing PVC tarp. After all, many highways lead to Milan, and at the moment no one knows which of them will be the fastest and cheapest way of getting to Rome. «While higher circularity may speak for one development approach, a lower material price may be the main argument for another», explains Anna Blattert, putting the current status of the various sub-projects into perspective. The know-how currently being gathered from the first prototype will soon benefit the other developments, as these are also being driven forward at full tilt. Parallel to this, discussions on suitable circular business models and processes are being intensified. Ultimately, we must ensure that the recyclable material at the end of one life cycle finds its way into the next and that the innovative circular tarps remain in an endless cycle instead of ending up in the trash. 

FREITAG is very much looking forward to these next stages with its fantastic project partners and to many more successful test rounds. We can hardly wait to take apart the small prototype tarps and send them out on their test rounds as recyclable FREITAG bags in the next cycle of their lives.

More information: www.freitag.ch/circulartarp

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