Last month’s Islington Labour Budget, agreed at Full Council, included a range of measures to reduce carbon emissions and tackle toxic air pollution. One of these was a £1.5m investment in electrifying the Council’s fleet at the Cottage Road Waste and Recycling Centre.

Yesterday, Labour Mayor Sadiq Khan announced that his Good Growth Fund would be matching our funding for the site, to ensure the council’s fleet of 230 vehicles – including 26-tonne refuse and recycling vehicles, parks maintenance vans, street sweeping vehicles and school and social services minibuses – can be switched to electric.

A demo of the new fully-electric refuse collection vehicles took place at the Town Hall earlier this week (pictured above). In October, we will become the first borough in the country to have two of these trucks.

The money will see a new substation and high voltage connection installed at the site, reducing the Council’s carbon emissions and ensuring our fleet is not polluting the air as we provide services to residents.

Despite ongoing Tory cuts to its budget over the last decade, Islington Council has continued to provide vital services such as weekly waste and recycling collections. This investment shows how a Labour Mayor can work with Labour councillors to tackle the issues that matter most to local people.

Cllr Rowena Champion, Executive Member for Environment and Transport, said: “This announcement shows the Council leading by example and greening its own fleet to begin tackling the emergency we face.

 

“We’re very pleased that the GLA and Mayor of London has recognised the positive impact of our fleet electrification plans, which will support our plans to create a cleaner, greener future for local people. The electrification of our fleet at the Waste and Recycling Centre supports our efforts to clean up the air we breathe and cut carbon emissions.”