Isles council selling £456,000 bin lorry it has hardly used
Getty ImagesAn islands council is to auction off an electric bin lorry it stopped using just months after buying it for about £456,000.
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar purchased the machine using a grant from Zero Waste Scotland in 2023, but it was taken out of service in January 2024 due to a fault.
Repairs were hampered by the supplier of the vehicle going into administration.
The comhairle is also auctioning a £190,000 diesel engine bin lorry delivered in 2022 by the same firm, and removed from service due to faults after six months of use.
A report to the comhairle's transportation and infrastructure committee said fitting a new body and bin lift system to the diesel vehicle was "uneconomical".
It said the electric vehicle has been with the chassis manufacturer since January 2025, with a repair quote of £150,000 offering "limited assurance" regarding the vehicle's future reliability.
Officials said recovering costs from the supplier was not possible because it was in administration.
The report said the plan to auction the vehicles, along with other older units beyond economic repair, was part of a wider review of its fleet.
The comhairle has recently bought a new refuse lorry and leased two others.