City of Cambridge Receives $500,000 Grant for New Hybrid Rubbish Packers

City of Cambridge Receives $500,000 Grant for New Hybrid Rubbish Packers

The City of Cambridge received a $500,000 grant award from the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) to replace three City-owned rubbish packers with new vehicles equipped with cleaner burning engines, Clean Idle systems and plug-in hybrid electric technology. The $500,000 award will be supplemented with a cost share of $325,000 from the City to fully implement the replacements. This application exceeded the grant’s required 20% local cost share by providing for a 39% total match.

These funds will be used to replace three City-owned, older model (2001, 2002 and 2005) rubbish packers with new vehicles equipped with cleaner burning engines, Clean Idle systems that shut the engines after five minutes of idling and plug-in hybrid electric technology (Odyne System). The new vehicles are projected to reduce fuel consumption by 36% and NOx and PM2.5 air pollutants by close to 100%.

The City’s rubbish packers travel throughout the City on trash routes and drive twice a day along Massachusetts Avenue to the Howard Transfer Station at 66 Norfolk Street in Roxbury. Cambridge and the entire travel route are designated Environmental Justice (EJ) territories in the category of Minority, Income & English Isolation. The project will provide public health benefits for EJ communities by reducing tailpipe emissions as well as climate protection benefits from reducing reliance on fossil fuels.

These vehicles are expected to be on the road by early 2021. For more information about the grant program and a full list of winning projects, visit: https://www.mass.gov/guides/volkswagen-diesel-settlements-environmental-mitigation#-news-&-updates-