Whanganui company Bullocks buys electric front-end loaders as part of low-carbon concrete plan

Willy Morrell in front of Bullocks' new ready-mix plant. Photo / Bevan Conley

Whanganui company Bullocks is on a mission to create low-carbon concrete, with two electric front-end loaders part of the plan.

They are set to arrive at its Bulls quarry and Whanganui sites in the next couple of months.

Director Willy Morrell said Bullocks secured a $463,000 grant from the Energy Efficiency and Conservation Authority’s (EECA) Low Emission Transport Fund, which the company then matched.

“There will be a 20-tonne vehicle in Bulls and a smaller one here at our new ready-mix plant,” he said

“The idea is to try to tackle some of the high emissions that are associated with our concrete operation. The production of cement is a very energy-heavy activity.”

Ready-mix concrete is made at a plant and transported, rather than being mixed at a job site.

He said the company currently spent around $40,000 a month on diesel not including road user charges.

Bullocks currently uses four diesel front-end loaders, with one at Bulls and one at Whanganui being replaced.

“It’s about a third of the cost of running a traditional ICE [internal combustion engine] vehicle. It‘s a win-win,” Morrell said.

“There aren’t too many companies trialling these off-road EVs, and they’re not good for every scenario.

“If you’re working in an isolated spot you might not have anywhere to charge it but we’re located in the middle of the city with a good supply of power.”

Morell said charging would take between two and four hours.

Businesses, councils and customers were becoming more conscious “of doing the right thing by the environment”.

“This is a small but significant step towards delivering more eco-friendly products,” he said.

“In the case of concrete, there is no substitute for it at the moment and it’s used extensively in roading, footpaths, curbing and house foundations.

“Until we come up with an alternative, we have to continue to use it. It‘s about thinking of ways to reduce that energy content as much as possible.”

A $1 million impact crusher (right) is on the Bullocks site to help recycle concrete into aggregate. Photo / Bevan Conley

He said in recent years, the farming sector had been under a lot of scrutiny about its environmental practices and civil construction hadn’t had the spotlight turned on it to the same degree.

It was a heavy user of diesel and, until recently, there were few ways of reducing the environmental footprint.

“We don’t really have biodiesel in New Zealand, or it’s very limited,” Morrell said.

“Going forward I think there will be a lot more scrutiny about how we operate and what we’re doing to try to reverse or reduce emissions.”

He said companies making electric front-end loaders were “few and far between”, with Bullocks sourcing two from Chinese company XCMG.

“This is a bit of trial but it’s certainly worth a crack,” Morrell said.

“Where it makes sense, if you can convert to electricity as your mode of power, it’s definitely a good thing.”

Bullocks was started by Morrell’s grandfather, Ben Bullock, in 1928.

“He bought himself a horse and cart and started delivering coal to the hospital and various businesse that had coal-fired boilers and heating systems.

“From there, he worked his way up and bought more equipment and got into civil construction.

“Bullocks is still family-owned - by four grandsons - and we’re proud to be local and if we can make a good, eco-friendly product, we hope the community wants to buy it off us.”

Also on the agenda at Bullocks is recycling wastewater from its ready mix plant and producing and supplying recycled concrete products.

“A lot of customers come in and ask where they can dump their concrete. At the moment, the options are pretty limited,” Morrell said.

“I think it’s around $180 a tonne at Bonny Glen. Yet, this is something we can reutilise in some of our products.”

A section of Bullocks’ Whanganui site is now dedicated to that process, with a $1 million impact crusher operating.

Morrell said recycled concrete made good aggregate - crushed rock materials - for tracks and foundations and acted as a substitute for crushed stone.

The EECA had invested in electric concrete trucks for other projects and Bullocks could add those to its fleet in the future, he said.

“When they bring out a decent electric ute we’ll adopt those but at the moment, there is very limited choice in New Zealand.

“We are already building a bit of extra capacity within our charging stations so we can add other vehicles.”

Mike Tweed is an assistant news director and multimedia journalist at the Whanganui Chronicle. Since starting in March 2020, he has dabbled in everything from sport to music. At present his focus is local government, primarily the Whanganui District Council.