NCT is committed to operating in as environmentally friendly
way possible…
Clean green machines
NCT buses run on Ultra Low Sulphur Diesel (ULSD), which means less sooty black exhaust smoke and less contaminants in the air. Emissions are regularly tested to ensure they meet government guidelines and don’t pollute our city.
All buses that drive through the city’s “Clear Zone” have to have
Euro 2 engines or above and buses running every 15 minutes or better have to have a Euro 3 engine or above. 86% of all our buses are Euro 3, including 144 buses which meet the very stringent Euro 4 or 5 requirements.
Drivers also turn off the engines when they aren’t needed, to save fuel, cut down on fumes and to keep the noise down!
Ecolink ethanol buses
NCT operates the Ecolink 30 route on behalf of Nottingham City Council, using ethanol fuelled buses, which produce up to 90% less CO2 than normal diesel fuelled buses.
Ethanol is derived from the waste products of the Swedish paper and pulp industry (provided from the Forest Stewardship Council). Although burning ethanol does create CO2 (90% less than diesel), an equal amount is also absorbed while growing the wood that creates the ethanol. Find out more about the Ecolink project.
Click here to download the Nottingham Ethanol Bus Trial October 2010 report (560kb, PDF).
Clean light
NCT are currently building a new radio room, which will use low wattage LED lights. These lights use 30% less electricity but are flicker free and last about 12 years, when they can then be recycled.
Recycling
We’re committed to recycling throughout the business, including:
- Scrap metal – separate bins are provided to separate the light steel, heavy steel, non ferrous, ferrous, copper and other metals. These are then collected by Linby Metals who recycle them for other use.
- Paper and cardboard – Kappa Waste regularly come and collect this from our offices and stores and take it to be recycled.
- Buses – the metal bodies on our buses are made of aluminium, which is great for recycling. However, usually we sell our old buses on to other bus companies.
- Engines – engine parts are all cleaned up and stored for reuse.
- Tyres – The tyres are not owned by NCT; maintenance of them is managed on-site by Michelin staff.
- Oil – Waste oil is collected every month and processed for reuse by Eco Oil. Greenway Orcol recycle our oil filters by removing excess oil and metal parts.
- Drains – industrial drains collect all the wash waste from our chassis washes and bus washes,
which is then taken by Supa Kleen of Newark, who will in future be recycling this and using it for mulch in fertilisers. - Water – the water used daily to wash our bus fleet is recycled, cleaned and reused.