Kerbloaders prove best in Bristol Waste test

From the get-go, Bristol Waste had a clear idea of what it wanted to achieve from its recycling collection fleet. It needed high-performing, reliable, durable recycling vehicles that measured up to its set criteria for long-term, future use, as well as sustainability requirements. As such, the waste specialist, which operates across Bristol on behalf of its owner Bristol City Council, designed and built a rigorous equipment assessment to evaluate the performance and effectiveness of different recycling collection products from multiple suppliers.

This controlled evaluation included monitoring and weighing each individual recycling compartment to ensure tonnage and capacity information matched the vehicle’s specifications. Bristol Waste also made certain the assessment was approached as impartially as possible, loading the recycling vehicles themselves for the most accurate and objective outcomes. From this, the collated data helped to set the minimum requirements for performance levels across each of the vehicles’ material compartments, supporting the waste specialist to better understand the number of vehicles required depending on the configuration.

Head of Procurement for Bristol Waste Company, Melina Woollon, commented: “Our assessment was based on total cost of ownership, performance, and conformance specification, as well as meeting other requirements such as the warranty, vehicle maintenance package, and innovation, to ensure long-term success.

“Social value and sustainability accounted for 5% of the final score. Alignment with Bristol Waste’s Sustainability Strategy and our social value ambitions is crucial to helping us to reduce our carbon emissions and better manage vehicles’ end of life and environmental impact. Terberg Matec UK demonstrated commitment to supporting environmental awareness and community engagement in Bristol.”

Councillor Abi Finch, Chair of the Environment and Sustainability Committee, said: “This has been an innovative tendering process with an excellent outcome.  The Kerbloaders will lead to a significant improvement in recycling collection services. The aim for Bristol Council and Bristol Waste is to deliver an efficient and effective recycling service for the residents of Bristol. The new recycling fleet is the first building block to a more reliable service as Kerbloaders can handle the high volumes of recycling we manage within our city and navigate the streets of Bristol. The fleet also has the ability to collect flexible plastic when the infrastructure and supply chain for this material stream have caught up.

“We also opted for 14% of the fleet being electric-powered and we plan to convert the diesel vehicles to electric as soon as we have the charging infrastructure. Bristol needs a sustainable recycling collection fleet that will meet our needs into the future and it’s fantastic to see that we’ve found a best-in-class supplier and solution.”

Successful in superior performance

At the end of the two-week operational trial period, our Kerbloaders came out on top. Offering exceptional flexibility, multi-material collection, and a broad range of different body volumes, the vehicles demonstrated superior performance levels in line with Bristol Waste’s assessment criteria, resulting in a large order. The waste specialist ultimately selected a total of 42 Kerbloader Urban vehicles on 12-tonne chassis, seven electric Kerbloader Mini vehicles on 8.6-tonne electric chassis, and three SPOV vehicles on 4.25-tonne chassis.

“Given Bristol Waste’s thorough selection process, we knew we had to ensure our Kerbloaders were the right fit for their requirements,” said Chris Wookey, Area Sales Manager, Terberg Matec UK. “The superior performance levels exhibited by the vehicles during the trial period indicated that Bristol Waste could minimise their initial upfront investment in the recycling fleet, as fewer vehicles were required overall. This would result in significant savings, so became a key factor in their decision to choose our vehicles to support their collection services.”

Following these successful findings, the Kerbloader and SPOV vehicles will soon be entering production at Terberg Matec UK’s site in Worksop. These are due to go into service midway through 2027, with ongoing support and maintenance for the vehicles provided by our Merthyr Tydfil depot.