Supplier News

Photo courtesy of McNeilus

McNeilus partners with SSAB on fossil-fuel-free truck

McNeilus Truck and Manufacturing Inc., an Oshkosh Corp. company, has formed a partnership with SSAB in fossil-fuel-free steel applications for severe-duty commercial vehicles.

SSAB, a Swedish steel manufacturer, initiated the partnership with Oshkosh Corp., Oshkosh, Wisconsin, because of its reputation as an innovator of mission-critical vehicles and essential equipment, including McNeilus’ refuse collection vehicles.

The first use of this fossil-fuel-free steel will be to prototype advanced, environmentally sustainable McNeilus refuse collection vehicles. Oshkosh Corp. and McNeilus, Dodge Center, Minnesota, are working on research and development initiatives across multiple commercial vehicle product lines.

“Creating a more sustainable future is central to our strategic vision,” McNeilus President and Oshkosh Corp. Senior Vice President Brad Nelson says. “As a leader and innovator in the industries we serve, Oshkosh and McNeilus are proud to partner with SSAB on this global initiative as a next step in delivering high-performance, sustainable products to our customers.”

SSAB aims to deliver fossil-fuel-free steel to the market at a commercial scale during 2026. The company delivered the first steel made of hydrogen-reduced iron in 2021. SSAB works with iron ore producer LKAB and energy company Vattenfall, both based in Sweden, as part of the Hybrit initiative to develop a value chain for fossil-fuel-free iron and steel production. SSAB plans to replace coking coal—traditionally needed for iron-ore-based steelmaking—with fossil-fuel-free electricity and hydrogen. This process virtually eliminates carbon dioxide emissions in steel production, SSAB says.

“Demand for fossil-free steel continues to increase globally. This step confirms our commitments to mitigate global climate change and collaboration with forward-thinking organizations around the world for industry-leading change,” SSAB President and CEO Martin Lindqvist says.

Amp Robotics raises $91M in funding

Amp Robotics Corp., Louisville, Colorado, has raised $91 mil-lion in corporate equity in a Series C financing led by Congruent Ventures, Wellington Management and new and existing investors, including Blue Earth Capital, XN and Valor Equity Partners. This round of funding follows a $55 million Series B financing led by XN in 2021.

“Advancements in robotics and automation are accelerating the transformation of traditional infrastructure, and Amp is seeking to reshape the waste and recycling industries,” says Michael DeLucia, sector lead for climate investing at Wellington Management. “By bringing digital intelligence to the recycling industry, Amp can sort waste streams and extract additional value beyond what is otherwise possible.”

According to a news release from Amp, the company will use the latest funding to scale its business operations while continuing its international expansion. The company says demand to retrofit existing recycling infrastructure with robotics continues to grow as demand for recycled commodities of all types increases.

Amp says the new capital will enhance manufacturing capacity to support a fleet of about 275 robots around the world and advance Amp’s ongoing development of artificial intelligence- (AI-) enabled automation applications for recycling, such as Amp Vortex.

Amp also has three production facilities in the Denver, Atlanta and Cleveland metropolitan areas. The funding will help drive growth of the company’s secondary sorting business in the United States.

Amp’s proprietary technology applies computer vision and deep learning to identify and recover plastics, cardboard, paper, cans, cartons and many other containers and packaging types reclaimed for raw material processing.

“Our focus from the outset has been our application of AI-powered automation to economically and sustainably improve our global recycling system,” Amp Robotics founder and CEO Matanya Horowitz says. “We’ve been fortunate to attract a passionate team, loyal customers and visionary investors along the way. With this new funding, we’ll accelerate our efforts to modernize and expand our recycling infrastructure, aiding society’s path to a circular economy.”