Electric refuse lorry for Powys

Joining the council’s fleet of vehicles, the electric-powered refuse collection vehicle is one of only three currently in use in Wales, and the first to be used in such a rural and expansive county.

Manufactured and supplied by Dennis Eagle, the vehicle will be used to collect residual waste from households across the county.

“The introduction of the new eRCV into our fleet of waste and recycling vehicles is another milestone in the council’s commitment to reduce carbon emissions” Nigel Brinn, Powys County Council’s Corporate Director for Economy and Environment said.

“This vehicle will reduce emissions by approximately 25-35 tonnes per year compared to a standard diesel vehicle and will help us reach the authority’s ambition to become carbon neutral by 2030.

“Following the introduction of electric vehicle charge points in many of the council’s car parks across the county last year, this is the start of our evolution towards an ultra low emissions vehicle fleet that complements our existing innovative fleet of ebikes used by our care workers.

“We already have an impressive recycling rate across the county, with our residual waste already going to an Energy from Waste facility. With the help of our residents and communities we will be striving to increase our efforts further to meet the next Wales-wide recycling target, set by Welsh Government, in 2024-25, when we need to recycle, reuse or compost 70 per cent of our waste. The fact that we can use a zero-emission vehicle to help us with this goal makes it all the more worthwhile.”