YOU’VE heard of horse power.

This is the truck that drives on rubbish power.

Kirklees Council yesterday unveiled its new electric refuse truck, powered by the waste it collects.

Clr David Sheard, Cabinet member for the environment, said: “I’m electrified!

“This is the way forward and it’s just continuing the pioneering work the council has already done.

“There has always been a cross-party commitment to environmental measures and this is part of that.”

Clr Christine Stanfield, who jointly holds the environment Cabinet post with Clr Sheard, added: “It’s very exciting.

“A truck that collects the rubbish that is then used to power it – it’s the perfect cycle.”

The council is the first in Yorkshire to be the owner and operator of a high performance, all-electric van.

It will be used to empty 25 new town centre bins that are split into two halves for recyclable and non-recyclable rubbish.

It will also be used to respond to incidents of fly-tipping.

Recyclable waste will be taken to the Emerald Street recycling facility to be sorted.

The rest will go to the Energy From Waste plant at the same site, where it will be incinerated together with household waste to generate the electricity that will charge the truck’s batteries.

When fully powered, the vehicle will be capable of a top speed of 50mph and will be able to travel 100 miles before it needs to be recharged.

It will have no emissions.

The truck costs £50,000, about twice the cost of a normal transit vehicle.

But, because of savings on fuel, tax and maintenance, the council reckons it will have paid for itself within five years.

There are vehicles in use in other parts of the country that work on the same principle.

But the council has claimed a world first for having the first truck powered by the waste it picks up.

Dan Jenkins, from the manufacturers Smith Electric Vehicles, said: “It’s a world first in terms of a vehicle being powered by the waste it collects. It’s a completely closed-loop system.

“We have vehicles working on a similar principle in London, but Kirklees is the first council in Yorkshire to have expressed an interest in using one of these in this way.”

If successful, the council may invest in further similar trucks in future.