Gotheburg

The City of Gotheburg had 14 electric/hybrid refuse collection trucks in operayion in 2004. The trucks design is based on new technology, where the engine run on natural gas or biogas. The engine also turns itself off automatically after stopping to do the collecting.
The new refuse collection trucks are both quieter and more environmentally compatible than the solutions previously used and they comply with the expected Euro-4 standard for exhaust gas discharge.


sustainable transport
waste management

The objective was to make the refuse collection more environmentally friendly, to avoid noise and additional emissions by the trucks.

• City of Gothenburg Ecocycle Board
• Renova AB (waste processing and recycling company)
• Volvo truck Corporation (technical development in corporation with Norba+ETP))
• Norba (refuse collection body+hydraulics)
• ETP Transmission AB (developed the technology for the enrgy storage and engine control.

The trucks’ new design makes them extremely environmentally friendly. The actual lifting, emptying and compression of refuse is done by electric motors, whereas the vehicle engine runs on natural gas or biogas. This means that the local environment in residential areas is spared from noise and exhaust pollution, and the refuse collection operatives gain a better working environment. When the vehicles stop to collect refuse, the gas engine automatically stops after 30 seconds, and all that can be heard is the quiet-running electric loading system. The vehicles have been developed in collaboration between the City of Gothenburg Ecocycle Board and one of the waste processing and recycling companies in the region, Renova AB. The technical development is result of a collaboration between Volvo Truck Corporation, one of the Europe’s leading manufacturers of equipment for the handling of refuse and recycling materials, Norba and ETP. Norba has been responsible for the refuse collection body
and hydraulics, whereas ETP Transmission AB developed the technology for energy storage and engine control. The gross value of the purchase amounts to approx. 2.8 million Euro.

Technical facts:
The batteries are mainly charged by mains electricity at night, and to a certain extent when the vehicles are driven. The Volvo trucks are equipped with a catalyst that works at higher temperatures than usual. This facilitates oxidation of greenhouse gases. 80% of the methane is eliminated in this way. A company called Enklaven AB supplies the catalysts. The hydraulics for lifting and compression are driven by a 96 Volt electric motor, which takes its power from the batteries. A five-hour shift uses up 50% of the capacity of the batteries. Simultaneously, 25% is recharged during driving. Another five hours uses and generates the same amount of electricity, which means that there is still 50% capacity left in the batteries.

Nils-Arne Holmlid
Public rejations Manager
Kretsloppskontoret City of Gothenburg
+46 31 61 34 29
nils-arne.holmlid@kretslopp.goteborg.se

Baltic Cities Environmental Bulletin 1/2004