Electric bin wagon being trialled in Wakefield

A report for the council in 2021 found that its refuse collection vehicles account for nearly half the council’s greenhouse gas emissions from transport emissions.

One diesel truck produces as much greenhouse gas in a year as seven vans.

The council is trialling the electric wagon over 12 months to assess and understand its performance in different scenarios.

The 26-tonne vehicle has a Mercedes Econic chassis and can carry 10 tonnes of waste per load, the same as the rest of the fleet, but the vehicle range needs to be checked to ensure that it can do the job it needs to do before committing to any full-scale switch.

Coun Jack Hemingway, Wakefield Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, said: “As a council we are proactively taking the necessary steps to reduce carbon emissions across the district.

“We remain committed to reducing emissions from our vehicle fleet and are actively trialling low emission alternatives to ensure they can perform to an appropriate operational standard.”

The trial will help the council with its future vehicle replacement strategy and the ambition to shift to low emission vehicles as part of the Council’s target of being net zero by 2030.

The council currently has 11 electric and hybrid vans and cars in its fleet, with plans to add more.

Other alternative fuel options, such as hydrogen, used vegetable oil and biomethane will also be considered in the future for the council’s large vehicle and specialist fleet.