Freitag became famous for upcycling used truck tarpaulins into bags. Now the Swiss company is working with partners such as Heytex and Covestro to develop a circular truck tarpaulin. In this collaborative and educational process, they allow others to look over their shoulder.
by Martina Metzner

Since its launch, Freitag bags have been a statement of design and environmental awareness. The Swiss manufacturer’s products are made from used truck tarpaulins. Founded in 1993 by brothers Markus and Daniel Freitag, Freitag has enjoyed years of success with this upcycling story. The company produces around 500,000 products a year – mainly messenger bags, but also backpacks and accessories such as wallets. Now the upcycling story is about to become circular: the new Mono[PA6] backpack, made entirely of nylon, can be recycled in a single-material process. Another, broader project is “Circular Tarp”, which Freitag plans to apply to all of its products in the future. The idea is that once a bag has reached the end of its life, it will become a secondary raw material.

Four Approaches to the Test
Closing the loop is easier said than done, as the Circular Tarp project demonstrates. Freitag is working on this with various business partners along the supply chain. For the past four years, the network has been investigating four approaches – that is, four different materials or material flows. They are researching with an open mind, says Anna Blattert, formerly a designer and now a Circular Technologist at Freitag.
From Truck Till Bag
Initially, Freitag partnered with Epea to start the process. The consultancy was founded by Michael Braungart and his Cradle to Cradle organisation and is now part of Drees & Sommer. Manufacturers across the value chain are now on board – Covestro (formerly Bayer MaterialScience), the international plastics manufacturer Heytex, the German tarpaulin manufacturer, the Swiss construction company Bieri and the Swiss logistics company Planzer. There are also three other approaches, one of which is equally promising: the use of polypropylene as a tarpaulin material and fabric, which Freitag is testing with Dutch tarpaulin manufacturer Rivertex. A research project is also investigating bio-based materials. The first fleets with test tarpaulins using the TPU/PES and PP/PP approaches have already been on the road since 2024, and Freitag is gradually testing their suitability for processing into sacks. This means dismantling, washing, cutting, sewing and testing. “This will give us very important feedback for further material development,” says Blattert.
‘PVC is widely used and manufactured in compliance with REACH, but it is fossil based and currently only mechanically recyclable. It is therefore not sustainable.’
– Henning Eichhorn, Business Development Manager for Heytex

Alternatives to PVC
To close the loop, all parties must ‘come together’, as the saying goes. And that’s exactly what Freitag did. The partners meet regularly and learn from each other. ‘We have to remind Freitag from time to time that we’re not developing bags here, but a truck tarpaulin that has to meet load-securing standards’, says Henning Eichhorn, Business Development Manager at Heytex, with a wry smile. The company produces around 5 million square metres of tarpaulins for the trucking industry every year. Based in Bramsche, Lower Saxony, the specialist applies plastics to fabric – usually polyvinyl chloride (PVC) to a polyester fabric (PES) for truck tarpaulins. ‘PVC is widely used and manufactured in compliance with REACH1, but it is fossil based and currently only mechanically recyclable. It is therefore not sustainable’, says Eichhorn. The plastic has a high abrasion rate, which releases microplastics into the environment, and it emits plasticisers that can be harmful to health. The reason for the widespread use of PVC is that “the truck market is very price-sensitive. PVC is cheap and easy to customise. For example, Freitag tests all incoming PVC tarpaulins for harmful plasticisers so that they can be sorted out before the bags are produced.



TPU: A Promising Candidate
One of the most promising candidates is TPU, which stands for thermoplastic polyurethane. Applied to a polyester fabric, this material can also be used as a truck tarpaulin. The advantage of TPU is that it can be melted down and reused. TPU is widely used in the IT and sportswear sectors for cable coatings, sports wristbands and even ski boots. This is because TPU has a much higher abrasion resistance than PVC and does not contain plasticisers. It is therefore used for products that come into close contact with the human body. What’s more, TPU doesn’t smell as bad as PVC, but it is considerably more expensive than the standard material.
Covestro Tests Chemical TPU Recycling
However, getting the TPU-PES Tarp back into the recycling process is not so easy. This is where Covestro comes in, having previously supplied TPU to Heytex. The Leverkusen-based company has 48 sites worldwide and is one of the leading manufacturers of plastics and their components. “This collaboration is a first for us because we rarely come into contact with end customers,” says Mark Scheller, Business Developer at Covestro. The company is currently testing how the TPU truck tarpaulins can be chemically recycled. This is not only about the feasibility of the process, but also its economic viability. Producing truck tarpaulins exclusively for Freitag would not be enough to keep such a plant busy. Research is also being carried out into a TPU fabric that would make the tarpaulin a more easily recyclable mono-material. Otherwise, the TPU would have to be separated from the polyester fabric. “We are doing this project with Freitag because we want to become fully circular. Fossil resources are finite, both financially and environmentally,” says Scheller. Covestro is currently testing recycling processes for all its material flows – a completely new role for the manufacturer.


An Emotional Bond
However, Covestro can afford to take its time before the recycling process is fully implemented, as truck tarpaulins typically stay on the road for an average of five to six years before they are handed over to Freitag and turned into bags. From there, they are usually used by customers for a long time, explains Anna Blattert. Freitag’s services, such as repair offers and an exchange platform for used bags, support the longevity of the products. Ultimately, it’s the uniqueness of the product – each bag is made from a truck tarpaulin – that creates an emotional connection with the user. “Our customers often have a very emotional attachment to their Freitag bag.
Digital Product Passport
The team is also working on traceability. A digital product passport, as required by the new Ecodesign for Sustainable Products regulation across the EU (see ndion special on the new ESPR), is expected to facilitate future returns. This means that the customer returns the bag after use and the circular canvas material, which has been sealed with a chip and QR code during the manufacturing process, provides information about the period of use, production and materials via the chip and QR code itself, facilitating the recycling process.
Co-Creative Learning Process
“Everyone involved in the Circular Tarp project is highly motivated and committed. Even though we’ve been working on it for four years and new challenges are constantly arising, we’re developing something completely new very quickly and efficiently,” says Scheller. The project is a good example of how complex, demanding and ambitious it is to establish circular value chains and corresponding business models. Only time will tell what material will ultimately be used for the truck tarpaulin, how it will be recycled, what business model will emerge, and how these Freitag bags will look and be accepted by customers. “It is a long learning process,” says Blattert.
- REACH is a European Union regulation that was enacted to improve the protection of human health and the environment from the risks that can arise from chemicals and at the same time to increase the competitiveness of the chemical industry in the EU. REACH stands for Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals. ↩︎

Circular Design Summit:
Rethinking the Economy
Find out more about the collaboration between FREITAG, Covestro and Heytex: At the Circular Design Summit
When: Tuesday, 11 March 2025, 9:30 – 18:00
Where: Hospitalhof, Stuttgart

About the Author
Martina Metzner is a design and architecture journalist with a focus on socio-ecological transformation. For her, good design and sustainability go hand in hand. After studying journalism, Italian philology and psychology, she worked in editorial departments for eleven years, first at TextilWirtschaft and then at Stylepark. Since 2018, she has been working as a freelancer for leading trade and consumer magazines and is head of the editorial team at the German Design Club.
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