ALEXANDRIA, Va. — Electric vehicles are the way of the future when it comes to lowering emissions and helping our environment. Now grabbing garbage is going green in one Virginia city.
Alexandria, Virginia, is the first city in the D.C. region to test drive a new fully electric garbage truck. Alexandria’s Department of Transportation and Environmental Services has the Mack Electric Refuse Truck on loan for a week.
"We're running different routes throughout the city just to see if it's going to be something that would be conducive to our needs here in the city," said Darryl Snyder, Division Chief for Fleet Management with the Department of Transportation.
The trucks are fully electric and Snyder said they are a lot quieter than the garbage trucks you may be used to.
"Very low noise profile, so residents should see a significant difference in the sound that comes to their neighborhoods," Snyder said.
The drivers seem to approve of the change, too.
"It's very driver friendly, very smooth, very quiet. The ride is a lot different. I like it a lot better than the typical diesel truck," Tyrone Kyle said.
Snyder said he hopes the new trucks can turn Alexandria into an environmental leader in the region.
"We anticipate a significant reduction in our carbon footprint. We want to be a leader in the sustainability portion here in Northern Virginia. We want to be able to provide a long-lasting impact for our residents. We're not just worried about the here and now, we're worried about the future," Snyder said.