Basingstoke waste vehicles go green
The council is switching to low-carbon bio-fuel
Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council will more than halve its carbon footprint when its kerbside waste and recycling trucks swap diesel for a low-carbon biofuel next month.
As part of its work to tackle the climate emergency by becoming a carbon-neutral council by December 2025, the council already uses this biofuel in all 25 of its grass mowers, eight sweepers, two tipper trucks and a small van.
With this swap to biofuel about to get under way, Serco, which runs local waste and recycling services on behalf of the council, has also started trialling a zero-emission electric bin truck for its kerbside collections in the borough.
Supplied by e-fleet solutions provider VEV and Refuse Vehicle Solutions (RVS), the zero-emission bin truck will take to the streets across Basingstoke and Deane as part of a six-week pilot scheme.
Ambitious
Cabinet Member for the Climate and Ecological Emergency Cllr Chris Tomblin said:
“We know how important waste and recycling collections are to our residents and I’m pleased this swap to biofuel gives us a way to maintain a reliable service and cut our current carbon footprint by over 1,000 tonnes at the same time.
“Combined with our other carbon-cutting action so far, this swap means the council will have shrunk its carbon footprint by more than 70% since declaring a climate emergency and setting its ambitious target to be carbon neutral by December 2025.
“We are committed to our target and will continue to push forward with climate-positive action as we explore every option to make the council fully carbon neutral. That’s why we are piloting the electric vehicle.”
More information about the council’s action on climate change is at www.basingstoke.gov.uk/our-climate-action