UK road users are being urged to steer away from diesel transport as the country moves towards meeting tough net zero targets.

Some of the worst culprits for emissions are the tens of thousands large diesel trucks used to collect household waste from residential streets. Their start-stop process and idling engines can pour more pollution into urban areas than the average vehicle. 

Now tech firm Lunaz, based at Silverstone Science and Technology Park, has developed a fix for these polluting waste collection trucks. 

"What we're looking to do is take those existing vehicles, convert them, upcycle them within the principles of the circular economy and make sure we're not adding to that vehicle car park around the world, as that transition is made," James Warren, the Commercial Director of Lunaz Group told CGTN Europe.

Lunaz is teaming up with waste management company Biffa to help modernise its fleet of 2,900 vehicles, by first stripping out the dirty diesel engine. 

"We've completely blown it apart," says Alastair McNeil, Head of Production at Lunaz. "That's not just the chassis - the body, everything is taken back to its component parts. Every element of it is added whether it can be remanufactured or reused, only actually replacing what we need to."

He added: "We actually carry over 82 percent of the Mercedes original vehicle and that includes the body as well. So, we retain an awful lot of what came on it originally."

An electric motor with two-speed transmission replaces the engine and the side of the truck can now fit up to six batteries, with the option of a slow or fast charging system. The cab includes modern features, such as hi-tech safety mirrors to navigate urban streets. 

But much of the back waste collecting section has been recycled, saving on scrappage which would otherwise create an additional carbon burden. 

"Like every industry in the world, the automotive industry needs to move to much more circular practices," said Warren. "There are 21 tonnes of embedded carbon that we save in a 26-ton truck during this process. In this building alone we can save an Eiffel tower's worth of weight in embedded carbon every year."

The trucks are road tested alongside Silverstone's famous racetrack and engineers are excited about how they are performing. "In terms of efficiencies, this has to do what their diesel truck would do either by end of shift or on the same amount of diesel, no ifs or buts," says McNeil. 

"We said from day one we can't deliver an electric vehicle that does less than a diesel vehicle," he continued. "I'm incredibly proud of what we've done, in the time that we've done it and to deliver something as good as it is, it's a big achievement."

Although the modified trucks are hi-tech, manufacturers say they are relatively low cost - around $62,000 less than buying a brand-new electric vehicle. 

"What we're doing by upcycling is offering quite a significant economic saving," according to Warren. For context, the UK local authority, we save about a million pounds for every vehicle that they upcycle.”

Later this year the first modified waste vehicles will head off from the Luzaz factory to be put to use in local communities. Once the initial testing and production phase is completed, Lunaz hopes to expand its current facility with additional factory space and hiring up to two hundred extra staff, with the aim of converting over a thousand industrial vehicles a year.

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