Meet the 'Green Fleet': Seattle's eco-friendly garbage trucks
SEATTLE -- Although we still haven’t found a way to power our garbage trucks from garbage itself, like Doc Brown’s time machine in "Back to the Future," Seattle’s waste management is getting pretty close to the real thing.
Seattle Public Utilities and Waste Management have officially gone green, and they’re checking off a handful of eco-friendly waste and utility firsts for the nation. Partnering with Recology, a sustainably-focused waste management company, the two have powered a so-called “Green Fleet” of waste management vehicles via electrical energy, renewable natural biogas emitted from landfill trash decay, and diesel sources like vegetable oil, soybean oil, and animal tallow.
So far, the taskforce is backed by over 100 eco-friendly recycling, compost, and garbage trucks. Included are 91 trucks powered by renewable gas and diesel, eight Nissan Leaf electric vehicles, and two battery-electric box trucks.
“This announcement underscores Seattle’s leadership in turning climate policy into action and serves as a blueprint for other cities across the U.S. to eliminate carbon emissions from this vital service,” said Jessica Finn, director of Seattle’s Office of Sustainability and Environment, in a statement.
The fleet is supposedly growing, however, with hopes of 200 trucks in total tidying up the streets by 2020, and additional dreams of electric buses and ferries floating overhead.
The paybacks of the transition ought to prove significant in the months to come, as the higher price of a natural gas truck is often offset by lower operating costs (fewer oil changes, no particulate filters, less carbon buildup.) Additionally, renewable gas means significant decreases in nitrogen oxides, halved greenhouse gas emissions, and lowered noise (decibels) by up to 98%, which also means we’re hopefully saying a cheerful goodbye to the morning whirs and whines of the all too familiar neighborhood garbage truck in passing.
Yet, Seattle is hitting headlines not only for its renewable gas, but more importantly, it’s electric energy. The Green Fleet’s electric trucks are not only the first of Recology’s kind, they’re the first in the nation to meet the streets.
“Our new Green Fleet at Seattle Public Utilities is another example of Seattle leading the world and taking bold action to protect our communities from the impacts of climate change,” Mayor Jenny Durkan said. “Vehicle emissions are the city’s number one contributor to our greenhouse gas emissions. Bringing those down will require increasing investments in transit, bikes, walking and adding density.”