Blaby District Council has rolled out its first electric street sweeper, designed to operate in areas of Leicestershire with higher pollution levels. The machine is being deployed on major traffic routes and in densely populated zones, where air quality concerns are most significant.
Although air pollutant levels in the district’s Air Quality Management Areas remain within national guidelines, they still exceed the stricter limits recommended by the World Health Organisation. To address this, the council secured £573,700 in government funding to support its clean air initiatives, which include the electric sweeper and the conversion of a diesel bin lorry to an electric model, further reducing emissions.
The street sweeper will be used in areas such as Enderby, Narborough, Whetstone, and along the M1 corridor in Leicester Forest East and Thorpe Astley. The electric bin lorry is expected to begin operations in the autumn, marking another step in the district’s environmental efforts.
Cheryl Cashmore, Blaby District Council’s portfolio holder for health, leisure, climate, and economic development, highlighted the council’s progress: “We’ve already reduced emissions significantly by using hydro-treated vegetable oil in most of our bin lorries, but we aim to go further. The introduction of the electric sweeper and lorry will help us achieve our goal of net-zero operations by 2030, with the district following by 2050.”
To celebrate the expansion of its electric fleet, the council plans to run a competition later this year to name the new vehicles.
The government’s air quality grants, which supported this initiative, aim to help local councils address pollutants such as nitrogen oxides and fine particulate matter. Les Phillimore, the council’s portfolio holder for housing, community, and environmental services, expressed pride in the funding, stating, “We were delighted to receive one of the largest grants in last year’s round of funding, allowing us to further our commitment to improving air quality for our residents.”
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