FREITAG began its search for the tarp of the future in fall of 2020. Instead of ending up in the garbage, the new tarp – or, more correctly, the FREITAG one-offs made from it – would one day return to the biological or technical cycle. This means that it must be biodegradable or can be broken down into its chemical constituents, which can then be recycled to make new tarps or other products. And, of course, the material must be robust, durable, water-repellent, and practical.

To implement it, we brought various players with the necessary expertise on board. The resulting heterogeneous and highly motivated community has taken flexible, parallel approaches toward achieving the clearly defined goal of a tarp revolution. In 2022, the first prototypes were mounted on a delivery van and sent out on a two-year test drive. In 2024, these pioneer tarps completed their maiden voyage, returned to FREITAG, and now provide valuable insights into the material's properties and recyclability.

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, we found a partner in the road freight industry that fitted out six trucks and five trailers with two different test tarps. The tarps were supplied by Bieri Tenta AG, who also printed them and spent many hours on extensive material tests to ensure that they could be processed and carry signage.

The vehicles will be on the road for varying lengths of time. By staggering the test periods, we can track more precisely the material’s aging process 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.

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.

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, we 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. To expedite this, we have the EPEA Circularity Passport® Product (see below); together, FREITAG and Bieri have jointly developed the Digital Product Passport for truck tarps, an innovation in terms of transparency and traceability.

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 a product’s circularity, we must prove it and provide as much relevant information as possible. Only this way can we create a network of reverse logistics geared towards regenerating value from tarps at the end of their lives—in this case, in the form of highly desirable one-of-a-kind bags.