Sheffield is trialling Electric bin lorries powered by the very waste they have collected, in what is being billed as a world-first for a local authority.
The worn out bin lorries will be recharged using the electricity produced through the household waste recycled at Sheffield’s Energy Recovery Facility in a world-first approach which is a cost-effective alternative to buying new diesel lorries.
The energy-efficient, green bin lorries have been made using a system that has been designed, manufactured and fitted in Sheffield by local firm Magtec, a leading supplier of electric Vehicle drive systems. This project furthers strengthen the UK’s position as a global leader in technology for electric vehicles.
The freshly converted lorries will be powerful enough to negotiate Sheffield’s seven hills, even when full. The bin lorries have zero carbon emissions and produce no air pollution.
In a further unique proposition for Sheffield, the two vehicles for the city will be powered by energy produced at the City’s Energy Recovery Facility at Bernard Road, generated by processing the city’s black bin waste into energy.
Councillor Mark Jones, Cabinet Member for Environment and Climate Change, commented:
“This is an amazing, innovative project that puts Sheffield and the region at the forefront of green technology.
Using local expertise, we are piloting a new repowered 26-tonne Bin Lorry which is powered by the electricity produced by the waste it collects. We believe we are the first local authority ever to do this, putting Sheffield at the forefront of the green energy revolution.
Our city is working hard to deliver clean air and green jobs. We are rightly proud of projects such as this alongside our own proposals for a clean air zone to cut nitrogen dioxide.
I’m looking forward to seeing this bin lorry and another set to be delivered soon powering up Sheffield’s hills and leading the way for a new approach to tackle climate change and poor air quality.”
The project is part of a £2.6m national scheme to accelerate the transition to zero emission heavy goods vehicles funded by Innovate UK.
Sheffield’s project is made up of multiple partners including local based business Magtec.
Marcus Jenkins, founder and director of Magtec, said:
“The quickest and most economical way to reduce harmful emissions in our cities is to repower diesel trucks with electric drives.
Converting one bin lorry to electric is equivalent to taking 30 diesel powered cars off the streets. We are especially delighted that two of the repowered vehicles will be running in our home city of Sheffield.
Repowering larger fleets of vehicles will accelerate the growth of Magtec and create more high quality engineering jobs and opportunities for young people.”
Typically a waste collection vehicle is used for seven years at which point the cost to maintain the vehicle typically exceeds the costs to replace it. Normally the vehicles are sent abroad or stripped for parts. The EV r-power can extend the working life of the vehicle for a further seven years.
Sheffield has been awarded £220,000 by Innovate for the battery packs for two Sheffield-based vehicles. The rest of the costs are met with funding from Innovate and from other partners.
The project will deliver two vehicles for Sheffield and two for Westminster Council, with both areas now having one vehicle in operation.
The project will put the vehicles into service and conduct a research and development scheme over two years to fully test the vehicles for durability, performance and cost effectiveness where hopefully the scheme can be expanded.
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