Council to buy six new 'self-operating' bin lorries

The government is funding a new fleet for Mansfield area food waste collections

A fleet of smaller "self-operating" bin lorries is set to be bought by a council.

The purchase of six new food waste collection vehicles for £559,230 is set to be approved by Mansfield District Council at a meeting on Tuesday.

The Terberg ORUS bin lorries are about four times smaller than regular 26-tonne refuse trucks allowing them to navigate tighter streets in residential areas.

Each is equipped with a bin lift mechanism so workers do not need to lift bins to be emptied, allowing them to be operated by a smaller team.

Mansfield's environment lead Andrew Burgin told the Local Democracy Reporting Service the vehicles are "not as expensive to run, use less fuel and are better for the environment".

The purchase is funded by central government and will help Mansfield to implement weekly food waste collections which would be required of all councils by 2027.

The collected food waste will then be recycled into biogas and fertiliser.