London operator O’Donovan Waste Disposal has urged new mayor Sadiq Khan to give the road transport industry more time to adjust to the tough new emissions rules he plans for the capital.

Khan last week announced a raft of air quality proposals that include bringing forward the planned September 2020 launch date of Europe’s first Ultra Low Emission Zone (ULEZ) and extending its reach out to the North and South Circular roads, requiring all trucks and vans to be Euro-6.

In addition, he wants all HGVs to reach Euro-6 standard across the whole of Greater London by 2020.

Jacqueline O’Donovan, MD at Tottenham-based O’Donovan Waste Disposal, said any acceleration in the rollout of the ULEZ will leave very little time for operators to plan for the reforms.

“Khan’s clean air revolution will require HGV operators to reduce diesel emissions in all forms across their entire fleets, as well as require them to adopt new clean technologies.”

O’Donovan has already made sustainability a key focus by reducing the carbon impact of construction waste logistics, with the firm’s fleet management system prompting a 50% drop in vehicle idling over a five-year period and reducing its carbon impact by 21.5%.

“But this does not happen overnight,” warned O’Donovan, adding that the wider industry needs time to make further changes and adopt new technologies.

“I also feel it is unfair to place such a strict time limit on these emission plans when we as a business have invested so much time and resource in recent times addressing a key issue for London’s streets – the safety of vulnerable road users,” said O’Donovan.

“The high quality training of our drivers and development and implementation of the latest additions to our fleet is all helping to keep Londoners safer – I would like the mayor to give our industry time to respond to his latest requirements and we will do just that.”

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