Case study · Automotive · Argentina

Mercedes-Benz: The material had more value left in it.

The upholstery came to us as a question mark. Transformed into complete asado sets, it returns as something original, unique to the brand and genuinely worth keeping.

112 m²Upholstery recovered

107.2 m²Diverted from landfill

155Products delivered

5People in the process

01 · Challenge

A valuable material was leaving the production story too early.

A responsible destination for automotive upholstery — one that could preserve material value and produce evidence strong enough for internal reporting.

The challenge was not simply to remove waste. It was to connect collection, transformation and delivery in one accountable programme.

Zárate is part of a long industrial history: Argentina hosted the first Mercedes-Benz factory established outside Germany in 1951.

02 · Strategy

Design the outcome around the material already available.

Mercedes-Benz invested in transforming the material rather than paying for its disposal, putting the budget into craftsmanship, durability and a product with genuine material value.

01 · RECOVER

Start at source

Automotive upholstery was identified, weighed, measured and dropped off as a defined batch.

02 · REDESIGN

Not the merchandise everyone already has

They did not want the same corporate merchandise everybody else hands out. They wanted something original, unique to the brand and genuinely worth keeping. The material became complete asado grill sets: cutlery, a wooden cutting board and a durable tote bag.

03 · REPORT

It is not just about metrics

It is about changing the story of the material and the people behind it: upholstery from the warehouse, followed at every step and returned as asado sets, with its record already closed.

03 · Process

From the plant floor to an asado table.

It is not about hiding the material or recycling it until it becomes unrecognisable. The material is the value. With creativity, innovation and a trained eye, what others see as waste can be recognised for what it still has to offer, then redesigned around a new purpose without losing the story of where it came from.

Recovered Mercedes-Benz automotive upholstery

Woman sewing upholstery in the local workshop

04 · Evidence

Making Impact Traceable, Transparent & Verifiable.

112 m² of automotive upholstery recovered, 107.2 m² diverted from landfill and 155 complete asado sets delivered.

The figures in this case are checked and the record is managed by REZET Hub.

Measured before the first cut

The batch starts at the warehouse: the upholstery was weighed and measured on arrival, setting the baseline for everything it would become.

112 m² in, 155 sets out

Every finished set is reconciled against the recorded input, so each one traces back to the batch it came from.

The difference is declared

107.2 of the 112 m² were diverted from landfill. The remaining 4.8 m² are recorded, not left out of the figure.

Five people, on the record

155 sets cut and sewn by 5 people. Who made them is part of the result, not left outside the metrics.

Behind each of these figures there are families. The people who cut and sew in these workshops are not a line in our metrics: they are heads of family who have come through hard circumstances, and paid, skilled work is what lets them be the ones who provide.

05 · Outcome

A second life people can use — and a result the organisation can prove.

155 complete grill sets, made by 5 people, from 112 m² of automotive upholstery recovered.

Plenty of suppliers can make you merchandise. Others can audit your waste. No one hands you both in the same object: something original, made from the brand’s own discarded material, that arrives with its record already closed — opened at collection, signed at every handoff, reconciled against the input.

Why repurpose

If you are going to spend money, spend it well.

Be smart about where you put your budget. Instead of buying the same merch everyone replicates, invest in merch with a true impact story.
And instead of taking the easy, often costly route of recycling by destroying the material, repurpose it. Preserve its value. Give it a second chance.