E-bikes to provide environmentally friendly collections for town centres

Two electric bikes (e-bikes) will begin collecting rubbish and recycling from public litter bins in the Queenstown and Wanaka town centres this week.

Queenstown Lakes District Mayor Jim Boult said the e-bike collections were a New Zealand first and just one of a number of environmentally friendly solutions to ensure a smarter waste service for the district.

“The e-bikes will hit the streets this week in Queenstown and in a couple of weeks’ time in Wanaka, removing the need for large trucks circulating the town centre streets to empty the public bins,” Mayor Boult said.

“Not only does this play a part in reducing congestion in the town centres, it also lowers carbon emissions and is cheaper to operate,” he said.

As part of the new initiative, the e-bike drivers will also be providing community education on how to dispose of waste in the public litter bins appropriately.

The rubbish and recycling collection fleet already includes one electric truck and two three-way split-body trucks allowing for one vehicle to complete a full collection of both rubbish and recycling while keeping the materials separate.

The e-bike collections will operate during the summer months.

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