Gothenburg focusing on reducing emissions from waste collection

Gothenburg is Sweden’s second largest city with half a million inhabitants. As the biggest port in the Nordic Region, Gothenburg is by tradition a centre for trade, transport and industry, as well as for tourism and major international events. Such industrial activity alongside residential demands brings big waste collection challenges. If the city is to achieve its high ambitions for sustainability, which include a 90% reduction in emissions from heavy goods transport by 2030, tackling emissions from the city's waste collection fleet is key.

Gothenburg is well on its way to achieving this, through a collaboration with the manufacturer, Volvo, whose headquarters are in the city. For the last seven years, the city has made lowering waste truck emissions a priority. The city asked Volvo Trucks to develop a tightly specified electric waste collection truck that met the requirements of the routes, topography, speed and load capacity needed to operate in the city. Among the specifications, the trucks needed to be able to carry five tonnes of waste and each electric charge had to last a full day of driving. In the city, the waste company Renova is also investing in an electric hybrid refuse collection vehicle that is powered by a diesel engine and an electric motor, separately or together.

“The vehicles are just one part of what is needed for large-scale electrification and sustainable transport. This is also a question of making sure the right rules, charging stations and infrastructure are in place to make it beneficial for companies to use electric vehicles. Customers and cities that invest in this technology also need to look at the transport system holistically and see the value for their brands, quality of life and for the environment,” said Henrik Kant from the city.

The collaboration model has also been a blueprint for other cities. In 2021, the city joined the Big Buyers for Climate and Environment initiative, where it hosted a study visit to showcase its work to 15 other municipalities and waste collection companies. Its actions are occurring in tandem with a wider A2020 waste plan, in which the 13 municipalities in the Gothenburg region have agreed on the approach to the sustainable management of waste.

The progress on reducing emissions from its waste collection fleet comes amidst a wider collaboration between Volvo and the city across many urban mobility functions. In 2015, there was a roll-out of Volvo’s electrified buses in Gothenburg. These were put on the road as part of the ElectriCity green city project, in association with the local transport authority Västtrafik, the technology university Chalmers, and ABB – who supplied the city’s charging stations – among others.

At the same time, Volvo and Gothenburg collaborate on the city’s Green Zone, where fully climate-neutral and zero-emissions transportation systems will be developed and tested. The aim of this zone, unlike many other zero-emissions zones, is not to entirely prohibit combustion engine vehicles from entering, but rather to establish extensive testing and demonstration sites, helping to spur technological innovation for sustainable mobility solutions. The zone is a collaboration between City of Gothenburg, Volvo Cars and RISE Research Institutes of Sweden. It will bring together companies including Volvo, research institutions and others, forging a multi-disciplinary, public-private collaboration.