The days of being awoken by noisy rubbish trucks may be over in the City of Casey, who announced today that an electric rubbish truck is currently operating to recycle hard waste from residents’ homes. The truck is the first of its kind working in Australia and forms part of Casey’s commitments to sustainable hard waste collection and liveability for residents.
The truck is only the first of several planned for Casey in Melbourne’s South East. Each will be operated by WM Waste Management as part of a new waste contract for the city. Two more have been confirmed for the coming weeks.
WM Managing Director Mark Jeffs:
“Electric trucks are a key demonstration of our support for renewable energy as they significantly reduce our environmental footprint. […] We need to be doing this for our grand- kids, for the next generation to continue living on this planet.”
The trucks are also a boon for Australian vehicle manufacturing, designed and built domestically by Superior Pak in collaboration with SEA Electric. It was only this month that Australia got its first electric vehicle manufacturing thanks to ACE EV in Adelaide.
It has long been predicted that electric technology will take over public service roles. Their predictable schedules and heavy use make them an ideal investment economically and environmentally thanks to electric vehicles’ significantly lowered on-road costs.
Not only are EVs cheaper to run but their reduced air pollution is essential for long-term city liveability, and lower noise will no doubt be greatly appreciated for waste collection vehicles especially.
City of Casey Mayor Amanda Stapledon:
“This is a terrific breakthrough in technology that will mean locals have a more sustainable hard waste collection with less noise, making their streets more liveable.”
But let’s not forget how far we have yet to go. Australia’s public transport networks still have enormous potential for EV conversions, as do public and commercial fleets. New Zealand got their first electric rubbish truck In 2017 , so we’ve got a ways to go yet.