Emptying Wychavon’s waste and recycling bins is now greener thanks to the use of a carbon cutting fuel.
Six household waste and recycling collection vehicles and two commercial trade waste collection vehicles are now being powered by Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO).
HVO can cut carbon emissions by 90% compared to diesel. It is the first stage of a process that will see Wychavon invest £270,000 over the next two years to support contractor FCC Environment to switch all waste and recycling vehicles, as well as street sweeping vehicles, over to HVO.
The move will help Wychavon reduce the carbon emissions created by waste and recycling collections until electric vehicles are able to be used.
FCC Environment and Wychavon continue to test out electric refuse collection vehicles (e-RCV) and recently held a second trial using an e-RCV to carry out recycling collections in the south of the district. Unfortunately, the trial was not successful due to the size of the vehicle and the battery life, but further tests of other electric vehicles in the future have not been ruled out.
Decarbonising waste and recycling collections is one of the key actions in Wychavon’s Intelligently Green Plan to help meet the council’s target to cut its own carbon emissions by 75% by 2030.
Cllr Beverley Hardman, Executive Board Member for Boosting Natural Capital, which includes tackling climate change, on Wychavon District Council said: “It’s fantastic news that through the use of HVO we have started to cut the carbon emissions of our waste and recycling collections and I look forward to us being able to reduce these emissions further when the rest of the fleet moves on to the alternative fuel.
“Using e-RCVs in such a rural area poses many challenges which is why we haven’t been able to make the switch straight away to electric vehicles. But with every trial we take part in our contractor FCC Environment is learning and developing their knowledge in this area and as technology improves, I am hopeful we will see e-RCVs on the streets of Wychavon permanently before too long.”
