Cleaner vehicles for waste collection

Summary

A new filter system was tested on waste collection vehicles in order to assess its potential for reducing levels of air-polluting emissions.

Implementing sustainable mobility

Road traffic is the most important contributor to urban air pollution, leading to ill health and damage to vegetation and buildings. Prior to measure implementation, at some measuring points in Rotterdam concentrations of traffic-related emissions of particulate matter were well above the limit value. However, none of Rotterdam’s waste collection and road sweeping vehicles were fitted with filters to prevent the emission of particulates, due to the newness of the technology.

The introduction of new waste collection vehicles, required for emptying the city’s new system of underground waste containers, was seen as a suitable opportunity for equipping the vehicles with the new CRT (continuously regenerating technology) particulate filters.

Progress

The measure was implemented through cooperation between the city of Rotterdam Public Works Department, the waste company Roteb, DAF trucks Netherlands, and a filter supplier. Originally, the plan for 20 new waste collection vehicles capable of emptying underground waste containers rather than plastic bags to be equipped with special filters working at very low exhaust temperatures, typical of waste collection trucks. However, it was found that the system would not work, as the huge battery needed to heat the exhaust gases would require a strengthened vehicle chassis. As a result, another filter system was proposed by the truck manufacturer DAF and, due to its high price, it was decided to introduce only two new clean waste collection trucks in order to test the specially developed filter system.

The waste collection trucks were ordered in December 2003 and delivered in early 2005, the delay being due to the sophisticated nature of the filter system and the active temperature control needed for its application.

In another pilot, a specially developed filter system for smaller diesel vehicles was fitted in 20 existing road sweepers in spring 2004. The catalytic particulate oxidiser (CPO) filter had already proved suitable to achieve Euro IV emission standard, especially regarding particulates reduction (80 percent guaranteed efficiency).

Outcomes

During the project period, there were no monitoring and test results for the waste collection trucks with active filter systems due to the failure of the system. In general, the acceptance of technical measures is strongly related to the reliability of the system, and as the CPO system on the sweeper machines operated without any failure or breakdown, and also led to the reduction of particle emissions, the acceptance of the system among operators was rather positive. For the active filters, the opposite was true: the considerable technical problems led to a lack of acceptance.