Above, the new electric garbage truck was unveiled outside of City Hall on Monday (Nov. 13). Post photo by Allison Levitsky.
BY ALLISON LEVITSKY
Daily Post Staff Writer
Palo Alto’s trash service is about to get greener.
The city’s garbage contractor, GreenWaste of Palo Alto, unveiled the Bay Area’s first all-electric garbage truck outside City Hall yesterday.
GreenWaste will participate in a one-year pilot program with the truck to test it for range, reliability and performance on the trash, compost and recycling collection routes of residents.
The truck should be quieter than conventional natural gas-fueled trucks. It’s also the first full-size, fully automated side-loading collection truck in North America, according to Phil Bobel, the city’s public works engineering manager.
The truck is expected to save about 6,000 gallons of diesel and 72 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalents per year.
It’s also supposed to reduce NOx, the nitrogen oxides relevant for air pollution, by more than 47 pounds per year, reactive organic gases, which form smog, by 2.4 pounds per year and particulate matter, by 2 pounds per year.
The truck takes two and a half hours to fully charge. On that charge, it can travel between 65 and 75 miles.
