By Joseph Edelen

NEW CASTLE — Evergreen Waste Services is living up to its name and going green.

As Delaware continues its commitment to renewable energy and electric vehicles, the company unveiled its Mack LR Electric truck Thursday — the first of its kind in the First State and the first of several EVs it will add to its fleet this year.

“We’re here to celebrate a small achievement, but hopefully, this small achievement will compound into great leaps forward,” said Marcus Stevens, owner of the Hockessin-based enterprise.

At Evergreen’s New Castle location, Mr. Stevens was joined by stakeholders who assisted in the process of buying the truck, representatives from the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control, and New Castle County Executive Matt Meyer.

The interest in electrifying the company’s fleet began in 2021, after Mr. Stevens attended an annual WasteExpo event that centered on industry advancements.

From there, he said, Evergreen began a multiyear effort to gauge the market and consult with companies like Mack Trucks and BorgWarner, as well as state environmental officials, before pulling the trigger on the purchase of the truck, along with a Nuvve charging infrastructure.

“During this time period, … in this approximately 36 months, we’ve picked up over 150,000 tons of garbage, 40,000 tons of recycling, answered tens of thousands of calls. Babies have been born. Houses have been bought. We work on the beautiful days, and we work on the ugly days,” Mr. Stevens said in reference to the company’s commitment.

Evergreen was assisted in the effort by the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s Environmental Mitigation Trust. It received $1.53 million from the fund, which is used to support projects dedicated to mitigating air quality impacts from high-emitting diesel vehicles and engines.

The initiative was praised by Angela Marconi, the director of the state’s Division of Air Quality, who noted that Delaware’s transportation sector is the leading contributor to its greenhouse gas emissions. Medium- and heavy-duty vehicles make up 26% of those emissions.

“This investment will help Evergreen Waste Services add four more zero-emission trash trucks to their fleet and help with the installation of charging upgrades,” she said. “We would like to help … more businesses that operate diesel buses and heavy equipment to upgrade to cleaner fuel options.”

Mr. Meyer — who has overseen the electrification of fleet vehicles at the New Castle County level — also applauded Mr. Stevens for leading the way in the industry. Plus, he praised Mack Trucks, which has set a goal for 35% of its sales to be fully electric by 2030, in line with the Volvo Group’s targets, according to Mack’s director of e-mobility sales, Tyler Ohlmansiek.

“That means Mack Trucks is going to have to overhaul the way it does business over the next 10-15 years, and they’re going to be winners, and because of people like Marcus … (and) DNREC leading the way, we can win here in Delaware,” Mr. Meyer said. “We can take something that so many people … see as a tremendous threat and turn it into one of our greatest economic opportunities.”

Evergreen’s electric truck will operate in residential areas, with a goal of approximately 700 collection stops per day, according to Mack Trucks officials. It will be serviced and supported by Bergey’s Truck Center in New Castle.

Evergreen Waste Services has 42 vehicles in its fleet, 37 of which are Mack Trucks.