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New super sized refuse fleet
hits City streets
THE 1st wave of Liverpool's 1st
fully owned fleet of refuse vehicles has arrived to boost the City's bid to meet
new refuse and recycling targets. Liverpool City Council approved a ₤3.4m loan for Liverpool Streetscene Services
Ltd (LSSL) to acquire twenty refuse vehicles and ten new vehicle bin lifts to
improve the collection and recycling of household waste across the City. The 1st 10 vehicles of the brand new fuel efficient fleet have now arrived
with the 2nd tranche to begin operations in October 2017.
The new vehicles will each be able to collect more than three tonnes of waste
and are fitted with rear wheel drive and a faster and safer operating
mechanisms, which will free up more than 2 hours a day for collections.
The new bin lifts will also make for a more efficient service allowing each
vehicle to do 1,200 lifts a day compared to the current average of 925; that's a 20%
rise.
Providing a more effective refuse and recycling service the new fleet will help
the City's efforts to reach its target of recycling more than 55% of waste by
2020.
The capital loan; which does not affect the Council's annual budget; will be
repaid over the next 10 years by LSSL, which was established in 2016 when the
City Council brought cleansing and refuse operations back under its control.
The request for the loan followed a LSSL review of the current fleet, which is
hired and subject to high maintenance costs.
Councillor Steve Munby, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods who is also a Director
of LSSL, said:- "This investment in a new fleet of refuse vehicles is a
great statement of intent in our goal to make Liverpool a cleaner and greener
City.
The Council inherited a tired and run down fleet which was inefficient,
unreliable and costly. Having a brand new refuse fleet that is bigger, faster
and safer will give the collection teams the right tools to ensure residents
receive a more reliable service.
However, we still need residents to take action by reducing, reusing and
recycling their waste enable us to hit our targets and reduce the costs to
them.''
The purchase of the eco friendly refuse fleet follows the recent announcement
that Liverpool is on course to meet its climate change targets; 3 years ahead
of schedule.
According to recent Government statistics, the City has already achieved a
staggering 18% reduction in carbon emissions since 2012 and is on course to hit
35% by 2020.
The City Council has now approved a report to press ahead with a series of
initiatives to continue the drive to a:- "Low Carbon Liverpool," by setting
an increased carbon reduction target by 2030.
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