Test Valley Borough Council has purchased three refuse collection vehicles from Dennis Eagle as it continues its drive to become carbon neutral.
The authority declared a climate emergency in September 2019 and in June 2020 it approved a Climate Emergency Action Plan.
As part of this plan, the council has ordered three refuse collection vehicles with electrically operated bin lifts, which are each expected to save around 2,000kg of carbon dioxide per year.
In addition, it is reviewing the potential for renewable and low carbon energy sources in the borough to help inform future planning policies.
Cllr Alison Johnston, the council’s environmental portfolio holder, commented: ‘We were already driving forward our climate emergency plans when coronavirus hit. Covid-19 has, understandably, taken the lion’s share of the news coverage over the past few months.
‘But the climate emergency is still very much at the forefront of our minds and green recovery will continue to be at the core of our response to the pandemic. Indeed, the impact of lockdown has accelerated a move towards more energy efficient ways of working.
‘We remain keen to explore all options to help reduce our carbon footprint, with a view to achieving carbon neutrality as quickly as possible and certainly before the Government target of 2050.
‘Some of the changes we implement will have a relatively small impact but this is about seeking to reduce our CO2 emissions wherever we are able to do so.’
Image: bh-2 / Shutterstock.com.
