Westminster City Council and French transnational water- and waste-management company Veolia have announced the rollout over the coming weeks of 45 new electric refuse collection trucks, which represents an investment of £20 million. Plans call for eventual replacement of the entire existing fleet of 80 trucks. According to estimates, each EV will reduce CO₂ emissions by as much as 89% compared to a diesel-powered truck.

The vehicles are built by Dennis Eagle in Warwick. They will be charged at a new depot at Landmann Way that can simultaneously accommodate 54 trucks. An adjacent energy-recovery facility, South East London Combined Heat and Power, will provide the depot with 3.3 GWh of electricity annually. The facility treats residual waste, including that collected from homes and businesses in Westminster, to generate 265 GWh of electricity a year.

Westminster’s fleet performs 50 million collections a year. It is operated by Veolia, which procured, designed and will operate the new depot and charging infrastructure. “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,” said Pascal Hauret, Managing Director Veolia UK Municipal.

Source: City of Westminster