The collection of waste in Courtenay and Comox in the future is looking greener.
Emterra Environmental, City of Courtenay, Town of Comox, and Mack Trucks revealed their new fleet of waste collection trucks July 16 at a news event.
Courtenay Mayor Bob Wells said reducing greenhouse gases in vehicles was at the forefront of working to achieve this goal.
“This is bleeding edge stuff; this is really pushing the boundaries right now so I’m really proud of everybody coming together.”
Nine new electric trucks will serve the City of Courtenay and Town of Comox making it the largest all-electric fleet in North America.
The existing trucks will be sidelined and be used as backup trucks if needed or rerouted to different communities.
Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation Josie Osborne said the new fleet will help the communities be less noisy and smell cleaner.
“We know that they’re an essential mainstay of our urban infrastructure they’re something we absolutely depend on but making them electric addresses one of the most significant sources of pollution in our neighbourhoods.”
The fleet allows the Comox Valley to continue to build towards the goal set forth by the Canadian Government to have net-zero emissions by 2050.
