Cardiff council considers diesel bin lorries over grid concerns

Cardiff council says it has insufficient grid capacity at the Lamby Way depot to charge all of its vehicles

A council could be set to spend millions of pounds on a new recycling fleet that runs on diesel.

Cardiff council is considering getting 41 vehicles for £9.7m to help it improve recycling in the city.

Some councillors are concerned the move goes against the authority's intention to reduce its carbon emissions.

But limited grid capacity, the price and availability of electric bin lorries forced the council to look at diesel vehicles, a cabinet member said.

Caro Wild told an environmental scrutiny meeting that the council would have liked to have made the vehicles electric, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

However, he added, there were a number of issues preventing that.

"We have got the biggest electric RCV (refuse collection vehicle) fleet in Wales but… because of the grid capacity at Lamby Way, the availability of the vehicles, the price of them, it is just not possible to do that number at this stage," he said.

One member of the committee, Bethan Proctor, said she understood the reasoning behind this, but was concerned.

"It did just feel a little bit disappointing that we are purchasing diesel vehicles two years after declaring a climate emergency," she said.

Some of the new vehicles will be purchased and some will be leased to allow the council to move away from diesel engines when conditions allow.

The council said it was looking at a solution to Lamby Way's grid capacity, including a solar and wind project.

The council will also look to procure an extra 20 electric flatbed transit vehicles for cleansing operations next year.

The council's recycling trial, which has involved 10,000 households separating their recycling for collection at the kerbside, could be rolled out to another 40,000 homes from November.

Cabinet members will meet on 13 July to make a decision on whether or not to approve the proposed procurement.