Bury Metropolitan Borough Council has acquired the latest electric, ultra-quiet, zero emissions sweeper technology to keep its streets and pavements clean round the clock without disturbing residents or polluting the environment.
The Green Machine 500ZE is being supplied to the council by leading contract hire and fleet management company, Specialist Fleet Services, via Green Machines who will also be maintaining the vehicle for the duration of the 5-year contract.
Stephen Fleming, Head of Transport & Workshops: “We’re keen to try out more environmentally friendly ways to run our service and help boost the market place for clean, green technologies. We are striving to reduce the CO2 emissions of our fleet and this sweeper will contribute to that target.”
The sweeper is the second electric vehicle to join the Bury fleet. The authority also has an Mega Tipper electric vehicle to collect litter from bins in and around the town centre.
Mick Morris Senior Waste Operations Manager said: “We are delighted to introduce a second electric vehicle into the town centre, which demonstrates Bury’s commitment to reducing CO2 emissions in the authority’s pedestrian areas.”
“As well as no emissions the sweeper uses less water and with no diesel engine the vehicle is extremely quiet and pubic friendly. The carbon footprint has been significantly reduced by the equivalent of 40 cars worth of emissions, and its running costs are only £3 per day compared with £40 per day for a diesel vehicle.”
Designed in Britain the 500ZE is manufactured by Green Machines, now part of the Tennant Company, in Falkirk Scotland. It is the first Lithium Ion powered suction sweeper in the world and was designed to create a cleaner, quieter sweeping solution for town and city centre areas.
Bob Sweetland, Managing Director, SFS said: “We’ve been working with Tennant for many years and we are impressed by the quality of their vehicles and machinery as well as their professional service. We were delighted to contract hire the 500ZE to Bury and we applaud their commitment to reducing emissions in the local area.”
Virtually silent, the 500 ZE allows early morning and late night sweeping to take place with minimum impact on residents. The machine can operate for up to 8 hours, non-stop, on one charge and can recharge in just four hours. Bury MBC is installing an electric charging point at its depot for this purpose.
Ray Ferris, Area Sales Manager, Green Machines: “We’re delighted that Bury MBC have chosen one of our vehicles and particularly the 500ZE. We’ve had great feedback from our existing customers across the UK and Europe. The 500ZE is already cleaning streets in Paris, Rome and Amsterdam, and we hope to see more and more of them across the UK.”
ENDS.
