Clean street cleaning: Zurich cleans with electric sweepers
Two small sweepers with electric drives are now on the road in districts 1 and 4 of the city of Zurich. These are not only environmentally friendly, but also noticeably quieter.
(Image: ERZ)
For mopping the streets and sidewalks in districts 1 and 4, ERZ Entsorgung + Recycling Zürich has added two sweepers with electric motors to its fleet. These are particularly quiet, CO 2-neutral and the first of their kind in this size class. They allow the city's cleaning staff to be active in all side streets as early as four o'clock in the morning - without disturbing the nightly peace of the city's population. Compared to cleaning vehicles with diesel engines, the electric vehicles are around 75 percent quieter and similar to a vacuum cleaner in terms of hum. The vehicles enable ERZ to reduce not only noise but also environmental emissions and save around 14,000 liters of diesel per year and machine, which is equivalent to over 36 tons of CO2 corresponds.
Put through its paces
ERZ uses the vehicles for twelve hours a day and charges them three times during this time using a fast charging system with green electricity. The cleaning vehicles have been in operation since November 2016, and ERZ is pleased to report that the performance expectations have been fully met.
Canton supports financing
The electric-powered cleaning vehicles are currently still more expensive than those with diesel engines. However, thanks to a financial contribution to the manufacturer from a fund for the support of pilot projects of the Cantonal Office for Waste, Water, Energy and Air (AWEL), ERZ was able to procure the small sweepers at the price of a diesel-powered vehicle.
