Electric rubbish truck hits the road

The first electric vehicle to be used exclusively for refuse collection by a New Zealand waste management company has begun operating as part of a partnership with Countdown supermarkets.

Waste Management flagged its move to EVs in September last year. The company runs a fleet of more than 200 cars and 800 trucks.

Waste Management managing director Tom Nickels, says it is trialling the new trucks as part of the plan to progressively shift to EVs over the next five years.

“Reducing transport emissions will help safeguard our environment for future generations, and adopting electric vehicle technology helps us achieve this aim,” says Nickels.

“I’m delighted to see our new electric truck out collecting waste from Countdown following the successful launch of our fleet of electric cars last year,” he says.

Countdown corporate affairs general manager James Walker says using an electric vehicle to collect food waste sits well with its sustainable practices.

“We’re focused on minimising the environmental impact of our business, including reducing food waste wherever possible. As a business monitoring our carbon emissions, using an EV to handle what waste we do have makes perfect sense,” says Walker.

The new box body truck, which will collect food waste from a select group of Countdown supermarkets, was converted from diesel to electric by mobility integrator EMOSS in The Netherlands.

It will be joined this year by the first side-loader waste collection truck for kerbside residential wheelie bin collection on Auckland’s streets.

Waste Management is planning to launch another electric truck in Christchurch later this year.

It generates electricity from the gas it captures at its high- technology landfill and energy parks. The Waste Management Redvale facility is Auckland’s largest renewable energy generator.

Combining the use of EVs with the ability to generate power from waste is an example of the company’s sustainable “circular economy” in action.