City gears up for green bin wagon
An electric bin wagon could soon be hitting the streets of Sunderland as part of plans for a cleaner and greener city.
This week, Sunderland City Council leaders agreed to launch the process to supply a ‘low-carbon emission refuse collection vehicle’ for Wearside.
The pilot scheme is linked to the council’s City Plan objectives for a “cleaner, low carbon emission city” and is part of a wider drive to replace its diesel-powered vehicles with eco-friendly alternatives.
“Purchasing one vehicle doesn’t sound like an awful lot but this is us going into our heavy goods fleet and it’s a 26-tonne lorry,” said councillor Graeme Miller, leader of the council.
“If we’re serious about our green credentials, if we’re serious about being carbon neutral by 2030 ideally, if we’re serious about all the work that the Sunderland Shadow Board 2030 is doing, purchasing this wagon is essential to that whole decision-making process.”
Cllr Miller, who was speaki n g at a c ab i n e t m e e t i n g , added: “I think it’s actually a
much bigger decision than it sounds, it clearly shows this city’s commitment to the future and to the futures of our residents and primarily our children and our grandchildren.
“We c a n n ot i g n o re th e pressures coming regarding green issues and this is a key element of us taking on board what we must be doing with our own council vehicle fleet.”
Over the last two years, the council has already procured a small fleet of Nissan NV200 electric light commercial vehicles.
In 2021, a further 30 medium-sized commercial low carbon electric vehicles will be funded from the council’s existing capital programme
to support the transition to a low carbon fleet.
Although technolog y is available for heavier low carbon vehicles, a report to cabinet states, there is a “lack of market supply due to limited operational performance data.”
The £400,000 cost of the electric bin wagon will be met through allocated capital funding from the council and funding from the European Regional Development Fund.
The vehicle will be trialled for 12 months to evaluate its ‘efficiency and effectiveness.’ If the pilot is successful, it could inform future policy on more electric vehicles being rolled out across the council’s heavy goods fleet.