Hanover, 15 September 2026. Kögel Trailer, TSR and REMONDIS have begun a joint pilot project to increase the circular use of materials in trailer manufacturing. Their goal is to develop a pilot trailer with as much recycled content as possible and then put it to the test. Part of this work will be based on the findings gained from dismantling and analysing end-of-life trailers. The three companies signed a letter of intent to this effect at the IAA Transportation 2026 in Hanover.
The partners will be working together to examine how recycling and the recovery of materials can be taken into account when actually developing and designing trailers. TSR’s role in this project will include dismantling and processing end-of-life trailers. It will also be helping to develop suitable take-back schemes and recycling processes as well as to return the recovered recycled raw materials. Being a trailer manufacturer, Kögel will be bringing both the vehicle and its knowledge of components and materials to the table. REMONDIS and TSR will then put the first vehicle developed on this basis to the test.
A pilot trailer with as much recycled content as possible
The project partners will be developing a Kögel trailer over the next one to two years that should contain as much recycled material as possible. This work should also deliver the technical evidence required to show which of the parts and which of the materials recovered from
end-of-life trailers can be used to produce new trailers.
“This is a pilot project. It is, however, more about showing that we don’t always have to use new materials in production. We can also recover materials from used raw materials and then recycle them for reuse. The quality of a future trailer here should be just as good as a vehicle produced using virgin raw materials,” explained Sascha Hähnke, managing director of REMONDIS Sustainable Services GmbH.
Besides considering the technical feasibility, the partners will also be looking at supply chains, the volumes of materials available and the cost-effectiveness of this approach. “We believe that there is a huge potential here. And we are convinced that our products can already be used as a substitute for virgin raw materials in trailer manufacturing today,” commented André Zick, business development manager at TSR Resource GmbH & Co. KG.
Tomorrow’s trailer begins with yesterday’s trailer
One key cornerstone for this project will be the analysis work carried out on an end-of-life Kögel LIGHT PLUS. The vehicle, which weighs 5,960kg, was completely dismantled by TSR and separated into clearly defined material groups. Around half of the vehicle was made up of steel, a fifth of aluminium and approximately twelve percent of old wood.
This dismantling work has demonstrated which materials can be recovered as well as in what form and in which quality. Moreover, it has also shown what will be needed for these materials to be processed and recycled. At the same time, it has delivered information about how the dismantling of end-of-life trailers and the recovery of their materials can be taken into consideration when actually designing a new trailer.
These findings will form the basis for the next part of the project, which will see the partners looking into what technical and economic conditions will be required for the recovered materials to be reused to produce new vehicles. Ensuring that these materials are strictly separated according to type will play a key role in determining the quality of the recycled raw materials.
From a pilot project to a closed material life cycle
As far as Kögel is concerned, this project also represents a further step reflecting its mission statement ‘Because we care’. Focus here is less on the actual recycling of the end-of-life trailers and more on the question of how many – and preferably all – of the raw materials recovered from the ELVs can be used to make new products.
“It is our vision to present a completed trailer in the next one to two years. Each vision begins by taking that first step. What is important here is to take action and to pave the way forward with concrete projects,” said Thore Bakker, CSO at Kögel.
The long-term goal is to create a closed material life cycle where the raw material content of end-of-life trailers can be used to produce the next generation of trailers.
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