RIPPL #21: Waalre: Waste collection by e-trike and trailer

Gemeente Waalre, a small Dutch municipality located south of Eindhoven, has been piloting use of an e-trike with trailer for domestic waste collection. The 9-month trial, which ran from September 2016 in Voldijn, a small area of the town a 10 minute ride from the centre, aimed to reduce traffic in the area whilst increasing collection frequency. The e-trike replaced the truck which had previously serviced the area, and collections rose from once to twice per week in order to prevent rubbish piling up and beginning to smell.

The custom Redkutsche e-trike, which along with the trailer has a capacity of 200kg, allows all of the different waste streams (waste, nappies/diapers, food waste, plastic, metal and drink cartons) to be separately collected simultaneously. A third goal of the scheme was to reduce the amount of waste which was not recycled; in other words, to encourage residents to recycle more. Three months into the trial, the amount of waste going to landfill had approximately halved.

Gemeente Waalre engaged the local community throughout the process and the trike rider, Roel van den Boom, featured in regular newsletters. Residents were able to put a human face and name to the scheme, a face which was present and accessible in the neighbourhood because he was riding a trike rather than a truck. This appears to have aided the popularity of the scheme, which has in turn increased cooperation and contributed to it’s success.

Gemeente Waalre are not alone in recognising the potential of bikes for waste collection; in fact, waste is a growing trend in cycle-logistics. Many other examples exist across the world and we’ll be featuring the most interesting ones in future posts.