Conwy County Borough Council became the first local authority in Wales to take delivery of an electric-powered recycling truck in June 2022. The Romaquip RQ-E Kerb-Sort was purchased with help from the Welsh government and is already doing collection rounds in Llandudno and around Conwy county.

The council has declared a climate emergency and made a commitment to being a net zero carbon user by 2030. Transition to ultra-low emission vehicles is key to those ambitions. The new recycling truck is the 17th electric vehicle in the council’s fleet, which already includes electric grass cutters, vans and cars.

Conwy’s truck, supplied by Romaquip, is an RQ-E Kerb-Sort on a DAF LF 12 tonne 4300mm 4x2 rigid chassis. It travels up to 140 miles between charges with a 180kwh battery pack, and takes 8 hours to fully charge from 10% battery life with onboard charge (AC). To optimise load space, the Kerb-Sort uses a vertical loader to move plastics and cans to the upper deck where they are hydraulically compacted and stored, giving a maximum capacity of up to 850kg. A new heavy duty cardboard compaction system can compact over 1 tonne of cardboard and is automatically controlled from the nearside of the vehicle.

The council worked closely with the manufacturer on the vehicle’s design and configuration, and is running the vehicle as a research and development project. The prototype vehicle will operate as a demonstrator project to local authorities, providing proof of concept for an electric Resource Recovery Vehicle (RRV) and evidence of long-term sustainability. This will enable Conwy and other local authorities to proceed with replacing recycling fleets with ultra-low emission vehicles. There is particular urgency for Conwy County Borough Council as their RRV fleet is approaching 10 years old. The next generation of vehicles purchased are also expected to have a life of 10 years and so will be in operation past the 2030 target date for net zero carbon.

To assist with the transition to electric, the Welsh government is providing a grant to Conwy County Borough Council to cover the cost difference between an electric vehicle and a diesel-powered vehicle. Diesel vehicles will be replaced with an electric vehicle when they come to the end of their useful life. The cost of an electric powered RRV used for recycling collections is around £340,000 compared to £160,000 for a diesel-powered vehicle. In addition to the environmental benefits of moving to an electric vehicle there will be savings on the cost of fuel and maintenance.

Six more trucks will be joining Conwy County Borough Council’s fleet by October 2022 under the same grant scheme. These will be 14 tonne DAF LF chassis with 200kwh battery packs.

Cllr Geoff Stewart, Conwy County Borough Council’s cabinet member for Neighbourhood and the Environment said: ‘Introducing electric vehicles will contribute towards the council’s resolution to be a net zero local authority. This is an important part of the action needed on climate change, bringing new economic opportunities as well as delivering key environmental and social benefits. Moving to a low carbon, circular economy and decarbonising the service we provide to the people of Conwy is an important part of our carbon challenge programme.’

Cllr Mike Priestley, the council’s cabinet member for Finance, Revenues and Benefits, added: ‘The financial assistance from the Welsh government enables Conwy to purchase electric vehicles at a cost similar to that of purchasing diesel vehicles. Financial revenue savings on fuel are welcome, but for me the biggest benefit will be to our environment and the reduction of carbon emissions.’

This article originally appeared in the autumn issue of LAPV. To subscribe for free click here.