Green and Labour councillors at Bristol City Council have been told to “just get on with” implementing a new bin lorry fleet after a spat over its Net Zero policy.
Bristol’s Green-led council came under fire after it announced 40 of the 52 new bin lorries will be powered by diesel, despite the authority’s “aspirations to be the greenest in Britain”.
Labour councillors described the situation as “less than ideal”, while Green members pointed out the move should have been looked into “a while ago” when under Labour’s control.
The council has said “full electrification” of waste and recycling “will be a gradual process”.
Labour Cllr Tom Blenkinsop told Bristol Live: “It’s great that we’re moving towards EVs, although I note the fact that they are diesel to begin with is less than ideal.
“A council with aspirations to be the greenest in Britain is going around with a fleet of diesel vehicles — it’s not the best look for us, reputationally.”
Green Cllr Heather Mack, deputy leader of the council, swiped back, pointing the finger at Labour for the “frustrating” situation.
She described it as “one of those things that needed a strategic look a while ago”.
“I share frustrations that we’re going to continue with diesel vehicles,” Cllr Mack added.
“It’s one of those things that needed a strategic look a while ago. We know that we need the charging infrastructure in order to have electric vehicles.
“A decision to have the appropriate charging and the appropriate depot, to be forward looking to have electric, needed to be made a few years ago when it was a Labour member responsible for our recycling services.
“So it’s frustrating that we’ve been left with this legacy and we’re still needing to look now at a new depot.”
Martin Fodor Chair of the Environment and Sustainability Committee at Bristol City Council said earlier this year EVs were a ‘key part of decarbonising’ the local authority
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GREEN PARTY
However, Bristol City Council’s Conservative Group leader, Cllr Mark Weston, slammed both parties, telling GB News the authority just needs to “get on with it”.
He said: “To be honest, I think that they are getting themselves wound up over reality.
“There simply isn’t the charging infrastructure to support an electric fleet, which means we have no choice other than to have a mainly diesel fleet.
“That’s the reality – they may as well get wound up by the sun rising in the morning.”
He continued to point the finger at Labour’s “lack of forward planning”.
The opportunity to invest in electric charging infrastructure could have been made then, Mr Weston implied.
However, the diesel-powered fleet will now have to transition to electric “over time”, requiring greater investment.
He told the People’s Channel: “Since Labour ran the council two years ago, it is a bit rich for them to be complaining about their own lack of forward planning.
“They should stop beating their chests, accept reality, and just get on with it.”
Mark Weston Leader of the Conservative Group in Bristol City Council told his fellow Green and Labour members to ‘stop beating their chests’ and ‘accept reality’
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THE CONSERVATIVES
The council’s refuse company, Bristol Waste, must relocate its main operational hub, the Albert Road depot, due to the area being part of a wider regeneration project called the Temple Quarter.
The Albert Road depot, south east of the city, has insufficient grid capacity to sustain a fully electric recycling fleet.
Electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure will be built into new depots rather than the council spending money on upgrading existing waste stations which will soon cease to exist.
William Yarwood, campaigns director of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, told GB News local authorities should not “rush into expensive electric bin lorries” and “reliable refuse collections” should take priority over “green virtue-signalling”.
He said: “Councils are right not to waste taxpayers’ money rushing into expensive electric bin lorries before the technology and charging infrastructure are ready.
“Reliable refuse collections matter more than green virtue-signalling.”
Mr Yarwood’s sentiment echoes concerns across other local authorities which have already gone through failed attempts at electrifying their refuse fleets, at significant cost to the taxpayer.
Nottingham City Council hailed the roll-out of two electric bin lorries as a “world first” in December 2020 and promised £32,000 in annual savings while reducing CO2 emissions by 52 tonnes per year.
As of September last year, the authority owned 20 electric bin lorries at a total cost of £8.7million.
However, the carbon reduction project was littered with problems, including charging faults, reliability issues, and capacity and range problems when collecting garden waste.
Charging faults alone contributed to 11,675 missed bin collections in just three months in 2023.
The council’s Head of Fleet, Ken France, has since concluded electric bin lorries “do not represent best value” for the council.
Nottingham City Council ditched their EV bin lorry fleet after the investment did not bring about the projected annual savings
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NOTTINGHAM CITY COUNCIL
He pointed out the £560,000 EV bin lorries cost twice as much as their £265,000 diesel equivalent.
They also carry less waste and no longer offer meaningful savings on running costs given the rise in electricity prices.
A senior Nottingham councillor admitted the authority should have waited before adopting the technology, saying: “There is a bit of a lesson learned there about not being the first to adopt a brand new technology.”
Wakefield Council reached a similar conclusion after it abandoned its proposed switch to an electric fleet.
The local authority had been trialling the change for four years following its 2019 climate emergency declaration.
The council had committed £4.9million to EVs and an additional £1million on charging infrastructure.
The council’s service director for environmental services told a scrutiny committee manufacturers had been unable to find anything “sustainable enough” to make a long-term electric fleet viable, with depot infrastructure also making charging points difficult to install.
The move back to diesel was described as “a disappointment” by committee members in April.