Council unveils eco-friendly food waste collection
Basildon Borough Council has cooked up an energy saving and environmentally-friendly plan for its food waste collection service.
Working with NRG Riverside, the contract hire and fleet solutions provider, the council has taken delivery of seven fully electric food waste trucks as part of an innovative contract hire agreement. The trucks are expected to contribute to a saving of over 900,000kg of CO2 over the contract’s lifetime.
Basildon’s first high-spec 12.5t Electra eCargo with Hillend Engineering micro XHD body went into service in April 2023, with the entire fleet operational at the beginning of July.
The vehicles have been provided on contract hire, benefiting the Council with the latest low-emission vehicle technology without requiring a large cash outlay, no risk and fixed price over the agreement term.
NRG Riverside’s fleet delivery enables Basildon to run the country’s first full electric food waste collection service.
The Electra eCargo Micro XHD vehicles are ideally suited to Basildon’s decarbonisation targets. They feature a payload of 7,900 kg with 140kWh battery capacity and a range of up to 250km. The 150kW DC fast charge capability means the trucks can be double-shifted and exceed their range by over 100 miles in under an hour. Having been designed with a very short wheelbase of 3.3m makes them easy to operate and manoeuvre in busy city centres and narrow streets.
