INSEE Ecocycle Lanka has put its first fully electric waste collection truck into service, describing it as the opening step in a phased transition of its collection fleet away from diesel.
The vehicle was unveiled at the company’s Katunayake facility under the theme ‘හරිතවත් ගමනක්’ (A Greener Journey), the Daily Mirror reported. INSEE Ecocycle Director Eng. Sujith Gunawardhana attended the unveiling.
INSEE Ecocycle provides waste management and what it describes as circular economy services. The company said the switch is aimed at decarbonising its logistics operations, reducing operational emissions and lowering the overall lifecycle carbon footprint of the waste it handles. It linked the move to sustainability commitments made to customers under its ISO-certified Integrated Management System.
What the company said
INSEE Lanka Chief Executive Eng. Thusith Gunawarnasuriya said the vehicle was “more than a fleet upgrade,” calling it “a tangible demonstration of our vision to lead the shift towards a lower-carbon future while creating lasting value for our stakeholders and the environment.”
Gunawardhana said the theme reflected a determination “to embed sustainability into every aspect of our operations,” and that the milestone marked “the beginning of a wider transformation towards cleaner waste logistics, lower emissions and more responsible resource management.”
Not reported
The announcement does not state how many vehicles are in the existing collection fleet, how many will be replaced or over what period, what the truck cost, who supplied it, or what its range and payload are. It gives no figure for the emissions reduction expected, and does not say whether charging infrastructure has been installed at Katunayake or elsewhere.
Waste collection is a stop-start, short-range duty cycle generally well suited to battery vehicles, but the company did not publish operating data. No other verified newsroom had carried the launch at the time of writing.