The Wheels of Change: E-Bike Recycling Collections
Wednesday 16th August 2023
Although generally considered environmentally sound practice, recycling is not exempt from producing greenhouse gas emissions, the leading cause of climate change. Waste and recycling have traditionally been collected using diesel-fuelled vehicles, with their combustion engines producing tailpipe emissions and other toxic pollutants.
Electric vehicles offer a cleaner alternative to their diesel counterparts but are only slowly being adopted. Electric waste vehicles are far more expensive, around double the cost of their diesel equivalents. The UK must generate most of its energy from low-carbon sources, to ensure that the charging of electric vehicles is truly ‘zero emission’. This, however, is not expected across the UK until 2035.Recorra already source all our energy from renewables. The UK still has a long way to go, and with just over 31,000 electric vans across a fleet of over 4.6 million vehicles.
Image of Recorra's E-bike
With zero tailpipe and particulate emissions (which are harmful to human health), cycling is considered a sustainable mode of transport. From flowers to beer kegs to Recorra’s very own sustainable office supplies, you may have seen cargo bikes make deliveries. Thousands of deliveries are made using cargo bikes daily, under the assumption that adapting old-school methods can work in solving modern problems; just last year, the rise of UK petrol prices saw cargo bike sales soar, with over 40% growth in just one year.
Recorra south coast cargo bike
With the capacity to carry up to 300kg of cargo, we thought that if bikes could deliver goods, surely, they could collect waste, too?
Research conducted by the Cracow University of Technology has detailed the environmental impact of using e-cargo bikes, such as:
- Less expensive – they are a fraction of the price of electric vehicles and can be purchased easily.
- Compact – their size allows them to navigate tight streets and alleys with ease, reaching properties quickly where larger vehicles may struggle.
- Reducing emissions – of carbon dioxide (CO2), nitrogen oxides (NOX), and particulate matter (PM2.5), all of which contribute to environmental degradation and are a harm to human health.
- Quieter - lowering noise pollution.
Given this, Recorra have launched a brand-new service to collect waste using cargo bikes. Our service will travel 140 miles per bike per week, offering low-density collections of 30-50 sacks per day, and high-density collections of 50 to 80 sacks per day.
Our pilot e-cargo bike collection and delivery service will be tested across Central London and Brighton. Under the pilot, Recorra e-cargo bikes will focus on collecting in-office sacks and offer the option to dispose of items during operational hours, rather than at less convenient times dictated by council restrictions.
The pilot aims to develop a service that provides customers with increased flexibility whilst minimising our environmental impact. We aim to evaluate the impact of these vehicles across our operations before assessing its expansion. The pilot will report weekly on the number of collections, environmental impact, order processing, route optimisation, inventory management, and any problems we may encounter.
Annually, our service is estimated to save:
- 4,050kg of CO2
- 9.65kg of NOx
- 301g of PM2.5
As calls for lower emission operations and improved air quality in our cities grow, Recorra is answering the call. We aim to be at the forefront of developing innovative solutions to complex challenges, and this is no different. Vehicle emissions continue to be a persistent problem for recycling companies, and e-cargo bikes offer an innovative approach to keeping our cities clean.
