Leeds City Council has taken a major step towards cleaner, greener refuse collection by adding the first three battery-powered trucks to its fleet.
The council calculates that each vehicle will generate a saving of 15 tonnes of carbon dioxide per year – so 45 tonnes per year in total, compared to diesel-powered trucks – while also bringing improved air quality and lower noise to the communities they serve.
Councillor Mohammed Rafique, Executive Member for Communities, Housing and Environment, declared: “We are very excited to see the first all-electric bin wagons working in the streets and neighbourhoods of Leeds. In the same year we introduced glass recycling through our green bins, these brand-new vehicles are part of our journey to provide the cleanest, greenest and most efficient service we can for our residents.”
The three vehicles feature compactor and bin-lift equipment by specialist manufacturer FAUN Zoeller UK and are built on Mercedes-Benz eEconic chassis, supplied by local Dealer Northside Truck & Van, which will also provide ongoing maintenance and technical support.
The trucks have joined a busy operation. Leeds City Council collects over half a million waste and recycling bins per week from households across its area, sending out 75 trucks and crews on six days every week and running the country’s largest free garden waste collection service under a single local authority.
In the last 12 months, less than 0.2% of all domestic waste collected in Leeds has gone to landfill. Black bin waste is incinerated and the energy recovered to generate heat and electricity, some of which goes to public and civic buildings and housing through the award-winning Leeds Pipes heating scheme.
Mixed dry recyclable waste is sorted into constituent parts sent for recycling. Since August this has included glass, and now 82% of glass collected is sent for remelt into new bottles and jars within Yorkshire. The contents of garden waste bins are composted locally by contracted partners.
Chief Environmental Services Officer John Woolmer said: “Leeds has chosen to be one of the pioneers driving forward the use of electric domestic refuse collection vehicles. Our three new fully electric refuse collection vehicles will be targeted to areas of the city that have the greatest air quality issues and where operating a cleaner, greener and quieter service will have the most impact.
“Collecting domestic waste and recycling with these new electric trucks will mean that over 45 tonnes of carbon dioxide emissions will be saved per year. This will contribute to the Leeds clean air strategy that aims to reduce air pollution from homes, industry, agriculture, and transport by 2030.
“It is calculated that the council’s household waste management operations across Leeds already contribute an annual carbon saving of 30,000 tonnes and beginning the move of RCVs to electric will not only add to that but also help promote and show leadership for the city on this agenda.”
Leeds Council’s electric trucks will slot into its existing fleet seamlessly. Charging will take place overnight at the Council’s award winning, modern eco-designed depot at Newmarket House, which means that the trucks will be ready to work each morning when the teams arrive at 6am.
