Granalu and Hydro: Transforming road transport with aluminium and circularity

17 July 2025

Durability, lightness and sustainability are aspects manufacturers demand in their road transport solutions. Granalu, a benchmark in the road transport sector, is finding these qualities through Hydro's aluminium profiles.

Every year, more than 13 billion tonnes of goods are transported in Europe. This highlights the continent's heavy logistics activity and the transportation sector's economic importance. 

Aluminium has established itself as a strategic material for the future of transport. Its lightweight nature reduces vehicle weight, lowers fuel consumption and significantly reduces CO2 emissions. In addition, aluminium is corrosion resistant and infinite recyclable, making it an ideal material in the move toward a circular economy.

Through the use of aluminium, companies such as Granalu, which manufactures semi-trailers, are helping to transform the transportation sector to become more efficient and environmentally friendly.

Commitment to sustainability and the future of transport

Granalu is utilizing advanced engineering processes to transform aluminium into optimized structural profiles for each type of semi-trailer, whether tippers, moving floors or platforms. The design of their products reflects their commitment to sustainability. It is a commitment that carries over to their manufacturing process and vision for the future.

G-Aero model: Efficiency, lightness and lower environmental footprint

The G-Aero model, a semi-trailer that stands out for its lightness, is an example of efficiency, lightness and lower environmental footprint. It has optimized aerodynamics and exceptional payload capacity. It is manufactured with recycled aluminium from Hydro.

Hydro recycled aluminium is the company's range of recycled aluminium, produced locally from pre-consumer and post-consumer scrap, and a small proportion of primary aluminium. By collecting and recycling scrap close to the source, and by following sustainability principles and good practices throughout the aluminium value chain, Hydro is lowering the carbon footprint of the metal it delivers to Granalu for its products.

A further step in this commitment to circularity is a new agreement between the companies, in which Hydro will collect the scrap generated in Granalu's manufacturing processes and send the material directly to Hydro’s recycling unit in Navarra, Spain. This scrap will then be converted back into aluminium profiles, with the same properties, but requiring only 5 percent of the energy needed to produce primary aluminium.

Collaboration and trust, keys to success

“Sustainability and the circular economy are fundamental pillars to achieve our objectives with customers, society, and the environment. Collaborating with partners such as Hydro allows us to move in this direction, as we share values and a business vision that is aligned with our own principles," says Javier Sánchez, Director of Excellence in Management and Sustainability at Granalu.

Granalu and Hydro have a business relationship that has lasted more than 20 years, based on technical and commercial collaboration, and operational excellence, which always focuses on innovation and continuous improvement.

“It is gratifying to be able to collaborate with customers like Granalu. Excellence in quality and concern for sustainability are values shared with Hydro. Together we are advancing the development of new aluminium solutions that contribute to the decarbonization of a particularly important sector, road transport,” says Raúl Fernández, Commercial Director of Hydro Extrusions in Spain and Portugal.