Blaby Council start to clean green

A new, electric street sweeper is cleaning up Blaby in Leicestershire after the Council received £573,701 to help improve air quality under the banner of Let’s Go Electric.

The money came through the Government’s Air Quality Grant funding last year and after spending a portion of it on their first electric sweeper, the rest will be spent on a conversion kit to transform a diesel bin lorry to electric.

The Council trialed a compact electric sweeper in 2022 and found it was able to operate on the same round as its diesel equivalent, with plenty of battery to spare. The council’s district cleansing team praised it for for its smoothness, efficiency and responsiveness, and were impressed by how quiet it was compared to a diesel sweeper.

The new vehicles will be used specifically in the Air Quality Management Areas in the District, where air quality does not exceed national guidelines but is higher than the World Health Organisation’s recommendations.

The sweeper is already operational, while the converted bin lorry is expected to arrive in the autumn. Once both are on the streets, the Council intend to run a competition to name them.

Councillor Les Phillimore, Blaby District Council Portfolio Holder for Housing, Community and Environmental Services, said: ‘We were delighted to receive this money in 2023. It was one of the largest grants given in that round of funding and came on the back of excellent work from officers in delivering an impressive submission.’

Councillor Cheryl Cashmore, Portfolio Holder for Health, Leisure, Climate and Economic Development, added: ‘We already use hydro treated vegetable oil as a fuel source for the bulk of our bin lorries and this has slashed emissions. But we want to go further. The electric sweeper and the electric lorry will help us reach our ambitious target to achieve net zero from our operations by 2030 and a net zero District by 2050. We continue to work on reducing carbon, improving air quality and ensuring a healthier environment for our residents.’