Trends driving faster electrification

Let's start with the current mega trends. Current trends driving the future of the Waste Collection Industry are the Technological Trend and the Sociological Trend.

The Technological Trend recently brought us Industry 4.0 with sensors, connected devices, and big data which is now turned into knowledge on which we build new services and products. One strand of the trend is electrification of vehicles which started with trailblazer Tesla, and now -at times reluctantly- followed by major truck builders such as DAF, Mercedes, Volvo, Scania, Iveco et cetera who also happen to supply the chassis for garbage trucks.

The Sociological Trend (we all want to save our planet and stop climate change) as well as the Pandemic make electrification efforts surge: planet earth cannot afford any detours attempting to achieve cleaner fuel technologies for combustion vehicles. It is a dying industry, while electric power is coming to fruition, fast!

Protective incumbents and pushing policymakers

It is no surprise that (garbage) truck builders are a bit wary of these trends. Their business has been build up around combustion motors and hydraulics. And maintenance plans and part sales. What will happen to all those investments, knowledge, and experience when electric become the norm? The steep pace of change enforced by governments and policymakers to sharply reduce emissions doesn't give much room to adjust and adapt, so protective strategies are applied to slow things down a bit while defining new strategies and business models.  

The speed of change levels the playing field and lowers market entry barriers allowing new entrants to enter & compete with new innovative waste collection solutions. This is exactly what we at BAS E-LIFTERS did, jumping into an emerging market space overlooked by existing suppliers because they focused on protecting their current solutions based on combustion motors and hydraulics, needing more time to rethink and restructure.

2030 tipping point

I believe that by 2030, hybrid and electrically powered garbage trucks will dominate the streets in densely populated areas (household waste collection) and in industrial areas (industrial waste collection). We already see a shift where key functions of Refuse Collection Vehicles such as hook cranes, compactors and bin-lift systems that were previously hydraulically powered are now successfully being electrified. Electric applications are not only more environmentally friendly, but often quieter, simpler, safer to work with, and sometimes with a lower TCO as well. Once solid state fuel cells and more powerful battery packs are available & affordable, I believe that the majority of garbage trucks will be fully electric.

What lies beyond?

What lies beyond is unknown but I do believe that major breakthroughs will be achieved in the years to come. Instead of trying to reduce fossil fuel emission rates, let's focus on generating more renewable energy and storing it sustainably so we can make it widely available via the network. And on neutralising the carbon footprint of the whole supply chain of electric equipment manufacturing.

Our aim should be to make this world a better place for the generations to come. The future of waste collection is definitely electrically powered!

Author: Aart Schalk, co-owner and CCO of BAS E-LIFTERS