Decarbonising our UK Environmental Services fleet
Decarbonising fleet emissions is an increasing priority for Serco. Our Environmental Services recycling and refuse collection business contributes significantly to our carbon footprint, with carbon reduction now embedded in our fleet management approach and our teams consistently seeking out new ideas to accelerate the transition to electric vehicles.
Reducing our carbon footprint
In 2024, we conducted an eight-week pilot of electric Refuse Collection Vehicles (eRCVs) with our partners, Vitol Electric Vehicles (VEV) and Refuse Vehicle Solutions (RVS). Our ambition was to demonstrate the capabilities of eRCVs to help reduce the carbon footprint of recycling and refuse collection.
RVS refurbished and repowered two diesel RCVs into as-new eRCVs for the trial, with VEV providing the electric charging infrastructure and a bespoke management platform to track performance.
Reducing our emissions
The pilot ran across three local authorities and 69 collection rounds in Hampshire, UK. The converted eRCVs completed their routes with enough battery charge to cater for unplanned extra rounds.
In the process, they saved 8,898kg in emissions, the equivalent of removing two cars from the road for a year. Emissions were further reduced by using vehicles converted from diesel to electric.
