Coun Glen Sanderson, cabinet member for environment and local services at Northumberland County Council, with one of the new wagons.
New greener and cleaner refuse wagons are set for Northumberland’s roads.
The first in Northumberland County Council’s new fleet of refuse wagons have rolled off the production line.
The authority is spending £8.6m to replace its 50-strong fleet in a rolling programme over the next three years, while also adding two extra vehicles to meet the growing demands on waste services.
An initial batch of 24 wagons are arriving this year, with the first vehicles now being liveried and prepared at the council’s depots.
The state-of-the-art machines cost £165,000 each and come with a number of improvements compared to the old models, including increased waste capacity, rear-wheel steering to help manoeuvrability around smaller streets and tight spots, full 360-degree cameras to increase safety for staff and the public, reduced exhaust emissions and better fuel economy.
The trucks also come with hardware which monitors driving style to encourage more efficient driving.
Coun Glen Sanderson, cabinet member for local services, said: “Providing an efficient and reliable regular bin collection service is a cornerstone of what councils do and it’s vital we invest in the right equipment to be able to do this.
“Our existing fleet of vehicles has served us well, but is in need of replacement and these new vehicles are cleaner, more efficient and safer.