Westminster City to launch 45 electric refuse trucks
Westminster City Council and Veolia announce the full-scale rollout of the UK’s largest electric refuse collection fleet. Westminster Council has invested £20m in the 45 new electric trucks built by Dennis Eagle which will be introduced over the coming weeks.
In terms of charging the new electric vehicle fleet, the fleet operator Veolia was also tasked to procure, design and operate the new depot and charging infrastructure which will be capable of charging 54 vehicles simultaneously. Furthermore, the power in the depot is to be sourced from “an adjacent energy recovery facility which uses the waste collected from homes and businesses”. This means that an energy loop is to be set up, in which the collected refuse will power the trucks used to collect it.
“The trailblazing electrification will deliver an essential service that is quieter for residents, improves air quality in central London and reduces our fleet emissions by 50 per cent, or over 2,000 tonnes of CO2 per year. This is a significant moment in the evolution of sustainable council services and we look forward to further expanding our zero-emission vehicle fleet in the future,” said councillor Paul Dimoldenberg, Cabinet Member for City Management and Air Quality. Pascal Hauret, Managing Director Veolia UK Municipal, added: “Using the waste we collect to power the electric fleet is an exciting innovation because that creates a local loop of energy, using local resources to run local services.”
The initial announcement of the plans to electrify the refuse collection fleet had come in April. At the time, Councillor Dimoldenberg had said: “Air quality has consistently been one of the main concerns among our residents and the council is taking action to reduce carbon emissions and improve air quality across the city. This new collection of zero-emissions collection vehicles, the largest single order in the UK, will help us achieve our goal of a Net Zero Westminster by 2040.”
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