Recycler uses stimulus funds to curb emissions (Charlotte)

The recycling process comes at a cost to local air quality: The trucks that haul recyclable materials belch pollutants at every stop.

But a stimulus project that has retrofitted a refuse truck for recycler God Bless the USA Inc. may be the cutting-edge answer to curbing those toxic fumes.

Indian Trail-based GBUSA received $65,000 through the Recovery Act-funded Carolina Blue Skies & Green Jobs Initiative to develop a recycling truck that uses a hydraulic system to move forward after it stops to pick up a load.

The stimulus money paid for only part of the project. The total cost is estimated at $225,815, with GBUSA paying the rest.

Daimler Trucks North America built the truck at its Freightliner plant in Mount Holly, then installed a hybrid hydraulic system from Eaton Corp. of Cleveland.

Dave Navey, green truck specialist at Charlotte Truck Center, says the recycling truck is the first of its kind built in a partnership between Freightliner and Eaton.

The truck is expected to consume 15% to 30% less fuel than comparable vehicles, and its emissions will be 60% to 70% lower.

Refuse trucks — whether for recycling or garbage collection — typically stop and start 400 times or more in a day. Substantial amounts of fuel is required to move the heavy vehicle to its next pick-up location, often at the house next door.

“Every time the truck accelerates, it uses the most fuel and puts out the most pollution,” says Navey, who also is vice chairman of the Centralina Clean Fuels Coalition, which helped GBUSA with its stimulus application.

Read the full story in the Charlotte Business Journal.