New eCollect sparks change for Adur and Worthing Councils

3/18/2026 2:22:00 PM
With an eye on building their knowledge and understanding of how an electric refuse collection vehicle (RCV) might enrich waste collection services in the future, Adur and Worthing Councils recently invested in their very first eRCV, a Dennis Eagle eCollect. This will be trialled as a commercial vehicle to assess performance, durability, and efficiency, set to spark change across Adur and Worthing’s streets and the surrounding area.

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Joining an existing fleet of 27 RCVs, mainly comprised of Dennis Eagle vehicles, Adur and Worthing Councils’ new eCollect was selected to support increasingly important sustainability targets and the impact of local government reform, the devolution of councils currently affecting counties and districts all over the UK.  

 

“We’re looking forward to seeing what the eCollect is capable of,” said Mark Quartly, Waste Cleansing and Fleet Manager, Environment Services, Adur and Worthing Councils. “While our infrastructure isn’t quite ready to go fully electric yet, we’re excited to be making important steps towards a more sustainable solution for our refuse collections and driving real change within the community. The trial should offer us a strong understanding of how electric vehicles will influence our approach in the long-term.” 

 

Alongside the new eCollect, Adur and Worthing Councils have welcomed an additional eight RCVs to its ranks, all with Elite+ 6x2 rear-steer chassis, Olympus 19 Narrow bodies, and OmniDEL electric bin lifts. To enhance the capabilities offered by this new run of vehicles, these include several additional features requested by the council. Anti-roll away, an offside radar assistant, a four-camera DVR system, and cycling alerts will help to greatly improve safety for both the council’s crews and its residents, reducing the number of near misses and future-proofing the fleet in line with emerging trends. To further support sustainability efforts with the eCollect, Adur and Worthing Councils have also ensured that the new RCVs can be run on hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), a more environmentally-friendly equivalent to traditional fuels.

 

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Overcoming challenges with exceptional engineering 

 

Largely made up of narrow streets, small town centres, and historic fishing villages, Adur and Worthing Councils need their RCVs to offer as much flexibility as possible, a considerable factor in its decision to opt for our Narrow chassis and bodies. Access to household bins is increasingly proving a challenge, with hundreds of new homes due to be built in Adur and Worthing as well as many properties above shops now being converted into flats and apartments. Crews are also faced with the difficulty of navigating crowded cul-de-sacs and estates overrun with parked cars, mostly due to multiple cars per household – an unfortunate result of the cost of living crisis.  

 

“The versatility made possible by Dennis Eagle’s rear-steer chassis should vastly aid manoeuvrability for drivers and crews across the districts,” Mark explained. “We’ve also ensured our new RCVs have the latest, next-generation safety features included, keeping everyone from our crews to our community safe while out on our streets. We know Dennis vehicles particularly well and trust their products to deliver reliable, effective services for our residents.” 

 

“We’ve been working with Adur and Worthing Councils for nearly 40 years and are now proud to deliver their third major fleet following their shared services merger," said Dan Foden, Regional Sales Manager, Dennis Eagle. “We have a fantastic relationship with both councils and remain consistently responsive and communicative to maintain fleet uptime and ensure their waste collections always run smoothly. We’re confident the eCollect will offer them a great insight into how electric RCVs could shape the future of their fleet.”