During 2019, Returpack, which handles the Swedish deposit systems for metal cans and recyclable PET bottles, helped save 180,000 tonnes of carbon dioxide. Naturally, Returpack wants its deposited containers to be shipped as climate-friendly as possible. That‘s why the haulier Långås Åkeri operates its Scania R 410 on renewable liquefied biogas.
Långås collects compressed containers from Returpack‘s depots in western Sweden to transport to its plant in Norrköping, 160km south of Stockholm. The truck and trailer are filled with thousands of empty containers that are sorted and subsequently sold for recycling into new bottles and cans.
Långås Åkeri, with a fleet of 13 trucks, is based in a village on the Swedish west coast with the same name. In 1936, Anders Petersson started the company with an American International truck specialising in hauling potatoes. His son, 81-year-old Curt, inherited the firm and continued driving professionally until two years ago.
“These are very different times,” he says. “Nowadays, we have tachograph records and such but in my day we were always on the move.”
Långås Åkeri operates a 1000 square metre warehouse and a truck wash hall half that size, but its office is run from home by Curt‘s daughter Ann-Charlotte, who is one of the owners together with her brothers and brother-in-law Jörgen Johansson.
Jörgen Johansson in his cab
Johansson joined the family business following a career in furniture. He retains his interest in decorating and has single-handedly decorated the fleet cabs as cosy home environments.
“The gas truck works well and although Scania‘s new cabs are very silent, this cab is even quieter. And the driveability doesn‘t differ in any significant way from the diesel trucks,” he says.
However, he points out that he could use more than the 410hp at his disposal. The power is more than enough for the 10 to 12 tonnes of compressed containers, but the loads coming back from Norrköping can weigh more.
Johansson finds that the biogas fuel consumption is even lower than Långås‘ Scania R 520, which is renowned for its low fuel consumption. The truck is filled daily in Norrköping and there are presently ambitious plans to expand the network of liquefied biogas billing stations in Sweden.
The gas-fuelled truck is not Långås only contribution to a lower climate impact. Their two other trucks that drive for Returpack operate on low-carbon biofuel HVO, meaning the family is well prepared for the future.
