Kingston Council begins to electrify refuse trucks

Kingston Council is rolling out 27 new electric waste collection vehicles in partnership with Veolia.

Starting in September, Kingston will gradually replace its recycling and refuse collection vehicles with a new electric fleet. These new trucks will be dedicated to single material collections as opposed to their current diesel counterparts that are split to allow for simultaneous food waste and mixed recycling collections. This can lead to contamination so the new vehicles will help improve the quality of recycling and therefore Kingston’s recycling rate. This also reduces the number of trips each vehicle has to take to the tip, saving energy. These developments demonstrate Kingston Council’s commitment to being net-zero by 2030.

Scott Edgell, General Manager for Veolia South London said: "We’re excited to see our partnership with Kingston Council result in a better service for residents, along with reduced air and noise pollution thanks to the introduction of our new electric fleet of recycling and waste collection vehicles.

“By constantly innovating our resources and services we can drive ecological transformation across the borough and support our partner on their net zero carbon journey.”

Councillor Noel Hadjimichael, Kingston Council’s Portfolio Holder for Assets, Commissioning and Waste said: “This is a huge milestone for climate action in Kingston. We are committed to finding sustainable solutions to tackle climate change and introducing a fully electric waste collection fleet demonstrates that. We are proud to be one of the first authorities nationally to make such a move.

“By introducing an electric waste fleet, we’ll help improve the borough's air quality and reduce greenhouse gas emissions significantly, bringing us closer to achieving net zero by 2030.”