Antwerp has taken another step toward cleaner and quieter waste collection. The city officially put its first fully electric refuse truck into service, expanding its zero-emission ‘fleet’ of two hydrogen-powered vehicles.
Across Europe and beyond, several recent case studies show that electric waste collection trucks are becoming increasingly competitive with their diesel counterparts. While the purchase price of an electric refuse truck is still roughly double that of a diesel model, real-world data suggest that lower energy and maintenance costs can close that gap over the vehicle’s lifetime.
Four lithium-ion battery packs, 360 kWh
Although the city did not disclose technical details, the truck visible in Antwerp’s depot is clearly a Renault Trucks D Wide E-Tech, equipped with a VDK Waste Solutions Pusher 4000 CB Dual refuse body.
The D Wide E-Tech is Renault’s heavy-duty electric platform for waste collection, typically powered by four lithium-ion battery packs, providing up to 360 kWh of usable capacity. In this configuration, the truck delivers around 260-300 kW of continuous electric power and is designed to complete two full urban collection shifts on a single charge—exactly matching Antwerp’s description.
The model supports both AC charging in the depot and DC fast charging, allowing flexible overnight and opportunity charging. This makes the vehicle a practical, zero-emission replacement for the city’s diesel and CNG refuse trucks, with full-sized performance but significantly lower noise and no tailpipe emissions.
Mixed set of vehicles
Despite operating one of Belgium’s strictest Low-Emission Zones, Antwerp still relies on part of its diesel and CNG refuse fleet because municipal service vehicles are not bound by the LEZ in the same way as private traffic.
The city says a complete switch to zero-emission waste trucks requires time, new charging and hydrogen infrastructure, and staged vehicle replacement cycles. Its 29 CNG trucks were once seen as a cleaner interim option, but no longer meet today’s zero-emission standards because they still emit CO₂ and nitrogen oxides during operation.
Antwerp aims to phase them out gradually and expand its zero-emission fleet to 18 full-size electric and hydrogen refuse trucks by 2030, replacing diesel and CNG units as suitable zero-emission alternatives become available.
Alongside these, Antwerp already deploys two hydrogen-powered refuse trucks and a growing number of smaller electric service vehicles. Under its Climate Plan 2030, the city aims to expand this shift by building a fleet of 18 full-size zero-emission waste collection trucks by the end of the decade.
The electric truck is part of a broader effort to make the city’s service fleet more sustainable. Antwerp operates around 1,100 municipal vehicles daily. Although refuse trucks account for just 11 percent of that fleet, they are responsible for more than half of the city’s total CO₂ emissions.
Less pollution, less noise
“That’s exactly why every step toward cleaner vehicles is crucial,” says Karim Bachar, Alderman for Environment. “With this first fully electric refuse truck, we’re showing that Antwerp is not only ambitious but taking real action. Less pollution, less noise, better air quality—this is an investment that every resident will feel in their neighbourhood.”
Driving entirely without emissions and with much less noise than its diesel predecessors, the new truck—together with the two hydrogen refuse vehicles—will reduce the city’s annual CO₂ output by 51 tons.
It is also equipped with enhanced safety features, including a camera system that eliminates blind spots and makes vulnerable road users more visible to the driver. During reverse manoeuvres, the vehicle emits a clearly audible, yet far less intrusive, ‘white noise’ instead of the traditional piercing beep, reducing noise disturbance for residents and staff alike.
Performance remains key for a city where more than 100 refuse trucks operate daily, some completing two rounds each. Thanks to four powerful battery packs, the electric truck can complete two full shifts without recharging. In practical terms, it matches the capabilities of a conventional diesel vehicle—only without emissions.
Brussels was first
With this launch, Antwerp joins a small but expanding group of Belgian cities experimenting with zero-emission refuse trucks. Brussels deployed Belgium’s first fully electric garbage truck in 2023 and is also testing a hydrogen model as part of the European HECTOR project.
In Genk, waste company Limburg.net introduced its first electric truck this year and has set the ambition of an entirely electric fleet by 2030. Still, Belgium remains in an early adoption phase, with only a handful of vehicles in operation nationwide.
Neighbouring countries are moving faster. The Netherlands operates significantly larger fleets of electric refuse trucks, driven by stricter emission zones and strong municipal climate policies.
Amsterdam alone has ordered forty fully electric DAF refuse trucks for delivery from 2026 onward, while regional waste operators such as HVC and CURE have been electrifying their fleets for several years.
The cost question
Across Europe and beyond, several recent case studies show that electric waste collection trucks are becoming increasingly competitive with their diesel counterparts.
While the purchase price of an electric refuse truck is still roughly double that of a diesel model, real-world data suggest that lower energy and maintenance costs can close that gap over the vehicle’s lifetime, just like for passenger EVs.
A detailed 10-year analysis in Hungary, for example, found that—despite the higher upfront cost—the electric truck ultimately came out about €64,000 cheaper to operate, thanks to dramatically lower electricity and servicing expenses. Similar findings appear in UK and US studies, especially when cities keep trucks in operation for a decade or more.
Still, the picture isn’t uniform everywhere. In cities without subsidies or favourable electricity prices, large-scale electrification can currently be 5 to 30 percent more expensive than sticking with diesel.
Infrastructure costs also add complexity: depots often require significant upgrades to install chargers and strengthen grid connections. And while modern electric refuse trucks can now complete full urban rounds on one charge, demanding winter operations or very long routes remain technically challenging for some models.
What is clear across all studies, however, is that electric waste trucks offer substantial advantages beyond financial calculations. They cut greenhouse gas emissions by up to 99 percent, depending on the electricity mix, eliminate tailpipe pollution in densely populated streets, and reduce noise levels to a fraction of diesel vehicles—an immediate benefit for residents and collection crews.
As battery prices fall and diesel becomes more expensive, analysts expect lifetime costs to favor electric models increasingly. For many cities, the shift is no longer a question of if, but when the business case finally aligns with the environmental one.
