Australia's cleanest garbage truck beating expectations in the Illawarra

The Australian-first trial of a hydrogen powered garbage truck began in October last year and according to waste contractor Remondis, the vehicle is performing well above its targets.

"We can say the truck has performed ahead of expectation," Chris Wade, Remondis Australia south coast region manager, said. "It operates just like our diesel trucks do, only it's quieter and of course it's a zero-emission vehicle."

So far, the truck has collected over 60,000 bins and carried 60 tonnes of waste across 6700 kilometres.

On a peak day, the truck lifted 1254 bins, carried over 15 tonnes of waste and in 10 and a half hours travelled 166 kilometres, climbing 2310 metres along the way.

Mr Wade said all this was done while emitting only waste vapour.

"Most pleasing is that more than 22 tonnes of carbon that would be emitted by an equivalent diesel truck have been spared," he said.

The trial of the hydrogen garbage truck is paving the way for other governments and businesses to use zero-emissions hydrogen instead of diesel for heavy vehicles.

While consumers have generally opted for battery-powered electric vehicles, the heavier weights of large vehicles such as trucks and buses has made hydrogen a more attractive option.

In the Illawarra, hydrogen power vehicles can refuel at the Coregas hydrogen filling station inside the Port Kembla steelworks, enabling local fleets to start running on hydrogen. The hydrogen is produced from natural gas, what is known as 'grey hydrogen', with greenhouse gases emitted in the production process.

Having the hydrogen garbage truck in action puts the nascent hydrogen ecosystem in the Illawarra into practice.

"The progress opens the door for industry and governments in Australia to look at embracing this technology as a serious zero emission transport alternative."

Despite this progress, in December the Illawarra was overlooked under the Albanese government's $2bn Hydrogen Headstart fund, with no projects in the region on the shortlist.