The recent trial of a battery-powered bin lorry could herald cleaner and quieter household waste collections in the future if successful. 

Ubico, which runs waste services for West Oxfordshire District Council, has trialled a zero-emission Dennis Eagle eCollect, making collections from homes and collecting over 94 tonnes of rubbish over a two-week period to judge the vehicle’s performance in a large rural district. 

Transport emissions, largely produced as a result of the council’s waste, recycling and street cleansing services, account for around 40 per cent of the greenhouse gases produced by the authority’s activities and through the services it delivers.  

A significant reduction in this figure is key to the council achieving its target of becoming carbon-neutral by 2030. 

READ MORE: Witney crash causing severe delays at junction

Councillor Lidia Arciszewska, executive member for environment, including waste and recycling, said: “In the last two to three years the council has pushed ahead with plans to replace smaller, ageing vehicles like our street sweepers and supervisor vans with electric equivalents to reduce pollution, but this will be the first time a fully electric refuse vehicle has made collections from West Oxfordshire households. 

Cllrs Prosser and Arciszewska at the two-week eCollect trial (Image: WODC)

“Without doubt alternative-fuel vehicles, such as electric, will play a role in providing more sustainable waste collections to our residents and businesses in the future, so we are looking forward to reviewing the results of the trial to understand how well the vehicle performs in a real-world scenario.” 

Typically, an electric vehicle such as the eCollect costs less to recharge than would be spent on refuelling a comparable diesel vehicle.  

On loan from manufacturer Dennis Eagle, the test vehicle is fitted with five packs of lithium-ion batteries under the body to maximise the available payload.  

The council’s waste and street cleansing service currently has three fully electric supervisor vans, three electric sweepers and an electric car. 

READ MORE: 'Deceptive' council knew of Botley Road reopening delay 'months ago'

Ian Bourton, head of fleet operations at Ubico, said: "As an organisation we work with industry colleagues to find the best routes for adopting alternative fuels and we’re delighted to be supporting the district council with this trial. 

“While requiring greater upfront investment, electric vehicles produce no climate change gases whilst working and with less moving parts, benefit from lower maintenance and reduced day-to-day running costs, so can be a viable option for local authorities looking to decarbonise their waste fleet.  

“We are seeing more and more partner councils successfully transition to heavier battery powered vehicles, often in smaller, urban boroughs, but this test will be a good indicator as to how well we can expect a vehicle of this size to perform in a larger, predominantly rural district like West Oxfordshire.”