Orihuela Adds Three New Trucks to Waste Collection Fleet

The Orihuela City Council has acquired three new waste collection and street-cleaning trucks in a €193,540 contract. During a presentation at Plaza del Carmen, Mayor Pepe Vegara and councillor Rocío Ortuño highlighted this as part of a broader modernisation effort for the municipal service. However, the council faces criticism over the effectiveness of waste collection across various parts of Orihuela Costa and the municipality's outskirts, where residents report overflowing bins, abandoned furniture, and growing piles of garden waste.

The new fleet consists of two rear-platformed tipper trucks and one with a grapple crane, all Renault Master models featuring 150-horsepower Euro VI engines. The vehicles are equipped with safety features like anti-lock brakes, stability control, emergency braking assistance, air conditioning, and airbags. The contract, awarded to Fruehauf Recambios SL, includes five-year warranties and GPS tracking for all three trucks, bringing the total number of added vehicles through this fleet renewal programme to nine.

This investment is part of a €6 million programme aimed at replacing and modernising machinery for waste collection and street cleaning, including refuse collection vehicles, open-body trucks, road sweepers, and other specialised equipment. While the council claims that the new vehicles demonstrate the promised investment's visible impact, they acknowledge that this represents only a partial improvement, as the service still requires more resources.

Despite the council's efforts to address the issue over the past two years, results have often fallen short of residents' expectations, particularly during the summer when population increases and the service struggles to meet demand. Complaints remain high in specific areas, such as the coastal region of Orihuela Costa, where communal bins often overflow and become unofficial dumping grounds for discarded items.