Published: Thursday 27 February 2020
A revolutionary new electric waste lorry is being trialled on the streets of Kensington and Chelsea this month. The borough’s waste contractor SUEZ is one of the first in London to trial the Dennis Eagle model, which is yet to hit the commercial market.
The Council hopes to have a fully electric fleet by 2030 when the technology is available, to help meet its ambition to become a carbon neutral council.
Until fully electric waste lorries are available to buy, the Council is investing £2.87 million to upgrade its current fleet of 29 rubbish and recycling lorries to cleaner, ultra-low emission versions. The move is part of a major programme of infrastructure investment in the borough. Next week the Council will vote in the final budget for 2020-21, which includes an expected investment of £714 million in roads, infrastructure, environment and buildings in the next three years.
Cllr Cem Kemahli, lead member for environment, said:
“We will embrace new technology as soon as its available, like the fully electric waste lorry we’re trialling this month. I would love to see these on our streets tomorrow and am looking forward to technology catching up with the pace of our ambitions for a carbon neutral borough.
“Until it does, we are upgrading our fleet with the technology on the market now and giving residents the choice to go electric too with 269 charging points around the borough so far.”
Gary O’Hagan, Contract General Manager for SUEZ said:
"Our crews are excited to help Dennis Eagle put its eCollect electric refuse collection vehicle to the test on the streets of Kensington and Chelsea. Trials such as this are paving the way for the Council’s ambition to be carbon neutral by 2030."
The Council has declared a climate emergency and set the ambition to be a carbon neutral Council by 2030 and for Kensington and Chelsea to be a carbon neutral borough by 2040. As well as greening its own fleet, it has installed 269 electric charging points – meaning around 90% of residential properties in the borough are within 200m of a charging point.