Cardiff Council has confirmed it has been using diesel generators to charge some of its electric bin lorries. The local authority has been using Dennis Eagle eCollect electric waste collection vehicles since 2021 to further transition its fleet away from diesel and to aid its mission to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2030.
But an anonymous source made the Local Democracy Reporting Service aware of images showing one of the council's electric waste collection vehicles being charged by a diesel generator. Cardiff Council said it had been using the diesel generators as a temporary measure to mitigate a fault between the new vehicles and the electric chargers at Lamby Way.
A spokesperson for Cardiff Council said: "The council’s waste department is modernising to ensure that both the workforce and the vehicles that are used can deliver an efficient service for residents. For some time, the council has been transitioning away from diesel vehicles towards electric and we currently have 12 electric vehicles in our fleet. You can get more Cardiff news and other story updates straight to your inbox by subscribing to our newsletters here.
