The Fairfax County Solid Waste Management Program has turned the ignition on its first hydraulic hybrid trash and recycling collection vehicle serving Fairfax County residents in established sanitary districts.  The trash truck is the commonwealth's first to utilize a hydraulic hybrid assist system. The County utilized $35,000 in federal grant funding to purchase this system that is estimated to save up to six percent in fuel and maintenance costs.

Trash trucks stop and start up to 800 times per day colleting waste or recyclables from residential homes.  The new hydraulic hybrid system utilizes a hydraulic pump installed along the truck's drive shaft that will be used to assist with the vehicle's acceleration.  In addition to cost savings, this new system will also provide environmental benefits through reduced fuel consumption, emissions and generation of heat from the braking process.

"It has long been our priority to promote environmental stewardship throughout Fairfax County, not just 'make the trash go away,'" said Jeff Smithberger, director of the Division of Solid Waste Collection and Recycling. "Part of our strategic process incorporates looking at the feasibility of new technologies and innovations that can help us perform our work at a high level and in a cost-efficient manner while minimizing the impact on our local environment."

For the past two years, Fairfax County's trash and recycling collection vehicles have been equipped with a regeneration system aimed at reducing the vehicle's carbon footprint.  This system captures carbon and soot particles, causing the truck to run cleaner than it's traditional counterpart.

The Fairfax County Solid Waste Management Program provides collection service to county facilities, 45,000 county residents in established sanitary districts and to provide debris removal in times of emergency.

For more information, contact Ben Boxer at 703-324-5253 or visit the Fairfax County website.