An electric waste collection bicycle may soon be on the road in several Dutch municipalities. VDL has developed this bicycle. In Waalre, there was already a successful pilot with the bike in 2016, but it looks like disagreements in the municipality are preventing its permanent use.
Waste collection
VDL announced earlier this year that it had developed its own model of electric waste bike. Earlier, it collaborated with the Baetsen Group to produce a bicycle specifically for the pilot in Waalre.
"Following on from the 'waste collection with the raw materials bike' pilot launched in Waalre municipality last year, VDL Containersystemen is now coming up with a completely unique design of the waste bike. Apart from the fact that the total weight now comes to just under 700 kg including driver, the design remains the same. The waste bike collects food waste, nappies, residual waste and PMD (plastic, metal, drinks cartons). Equipped with four container bins divided between the bike and a trailer, the whole thing is about 5 metres long but can nevertheless turn at right angles to reach any street, courtyard or neighbourhood. The bike is electric and equipped with a small battery that allows a fixed number of trips per day.
Emptying is done through the bottom. When the fully loaded bike parks in a specially prepared rack, the bins can tip over where the underside opens and the collected recyclables slide out into a large standard deposit container.
VDL introduced the bike last week at the IFAT Entsorga in Munich, where it seems to have immediately won an award for the design. Consequently, a Waalre alderman, who was in favour of introducing the bike, says several municipalities have already approached VDL to get more information.
Disagreement
After a successful pilot in 2016, the Brabant town of Waalre seemed to have embraced the waste bike. The trial among three hundred households received a rating of 7. The waste bike was developed by the Baetsen Groep and VDL with financial support from the province of North Brabant. Attached to the electrically powered two-wheeler were four bins for various types of waste. Waalre municipality hoped the introduction of the waste bike would reduce lorry traffic in the streets. It could also encourage waste separation, thus reducing residual waste.
Waalre's municipal coalition - consisting of D66, PvdA, CDA and VVD - therefore expressed its intention to deploy the waste bike throughout the municipality. Opposition party AWB, however, saw things differently, and after the council elections it won, it is the turn of the coalition formation.
The shredder in
AWB believes that the rubbish bags displayed on the pavement twice a week affect the street scene and that the privacy of residents is at stake. Moreover, Waalre residents are 11 euros more expensive per year. So if it were up to AWB chairman Jo Claessen, the waste bike would 'go into the shredder as soon as possible'. 'Now we have a pilot that promotes sustainability and relieves the public, and then the result is wiped out by vulgar campaign politics,' PvdA alderman Paul van Liempd responds to Binnenlands Bestuur.
Yet there is still hope for the waste-collecting bicycle. 'In our neighbouring municipality of Eersel, they are doing a trial with an electric waste cart,' reports Van Liempd. 'But that requires both a driver and a loader because of health and safety requirements. So that is a much more difficult story financially.'
By: Kelly Bakker
Source: Supplychain Magazine/VDL
