New trucks doing the rounds

New refuse trucks are now out and about in Plymouth as part of a five year programme to replace ageing vehicles and keep maintenance costs down.

A total of 14 vehicles will be on the streets from this month with a further 12 to be delivered next April.

The 26 tonne Dennis bin lorries will be used to pick up the rubbish from 119,000 properties across the city.

The trucks cover around 10,000 miles a year and can take over 10 tonnes of household rubbish at a time.

Councillor Brian Vincent, Cabinet Member for Streetscene said: “We last replaced the trucks in 2008 and as you can imagine, these workhorses of the service get some wear and tear.

“The old trucks are now beginning to be less reliable and we’ve had to use hire trucks to help cover the rounds.“

The new fleet means the Council won’t need to rely so much on hire vehicles, it will cut maintenance costs as well as reduce the amount of time trucks are off the road in the garage.

Standardising the fleet means the garage can reduce its stock of spare parts.

The new vehicles will have a rear steer capability and narrow chassis which allows for easier access to some areas of Plymouth where we had difficulties in some of the older fleet.

The replacement programme – which will cost £4.2 million over two years – with achieve a saving of around £1 million over five years.

Councillor Vincent added: “The technology for these vehicles is developing all the time and the new trucks will have the latest fuel efficiency technology and will be better for our carbon footprint.”

The new fleet is part of the Council’s ongoing improvement package for its waste and recycling services.

It has successfully introduced glass recycling into people’s door step recycling collection scheme – leading to an extra 898 tonnes of glass in a year.

The Council has also upgraded its materials recycling facility at Chelson Meadow. The facility now allows for the separation of all the materials which are collected in green bin including glass.