While we may not be able to get rid of the foul smell coming from garbage trucks, we can get rid of the smelly exhaust fumes coming out of their tailpipes. And that’s exactly what New York City is trying to do by testing its first all-electric garbage truck on the streets of Brooklyn.
“This is an environmental justice issue and a quality-of-life issue,” says Joshua Goodman, a spokesperson for the New York City Department of Sanitation, explaining that electrifying heavy equipment is key to reaching the city’s goal of becoming carbon neutral by 2050, as well as reducing air pollution that’s linked to thousands of premature deaths in the city every year.
For the pilot, the city is testing the new LR Electric refuse truck from Mack, seeing how it performs on a typical 12-hour route through 20-25 miles of busy streets. As Fast Company reports, electrifying garbage collection actually makes a lot of sense: Not only do they work particularly well at low speeds, thus conserving energy, but they can also charge their batteries from their constant starts and stops — a process called regenerative braking.
For now, the vehicles may cost more than their diesel-powered counterparts, but they’re cheaper to operate, with the electricity required to run the vehicle being cheaper than the equivalent amount of diesel fuel, and maintenance costs are also lower.
Electric garbage trucks have been in development for several years, but as cities step up climate commitments and battery costs continue to drop, our garbage collection systems may undergo the electric revolution sooner than previously thought.
