Electric loaders are moving from pilots to production — here’s where the math works
Electrification has been long on demos and short on day-in, day-out proof. That’s changing. At Groupe Bellemare’s Plan 1 facility in Trois-Rivières, Quebec, a fully deployed set of mid-size electric machines is handling core production work across abrasives/minerals and C&D recycling — not a pilot, not a PR day. The details matter, because they point to where electrification can actually pay off for recycling and transfer operations.
A first-mover running mid-size iron, not compact novelties
As reported by Recycling Product News, Bellemare has integrated one of North America’s first fleets of mid-size electric construction equipment into daily operations: four 46,297‑pound LiuGong 856HE MAX electric wheel loaders and a recently added 58,422‑pound 924FE electric excavator. This is production gear in production roles at the company’s Plan 1 site — not a limited trial.
Productivity claims and crew environment
According to Recycling Product News’ account of comments from Jason Lagacé, operations manager with Groupe Bellemare, the electric loaders have matched or exceeded the output of comparable diesel machines, with responsive hydraulics and strong travel speed. Crews working long shifts benefit from a quieter operating environment. In Bellemare’s abrasives and minerals and C&D recycling division, fulfilling orders and moving material efficiently over multiple shifts is critical — and the company has shown that productivity doesn’t slow when switching from diesel to electric. The article also underscores that the right dealer and OEM support were part of making the transition work.
Why this application pencils out
Bellemare’s use case checks the boxes that favor battery equipment: short travel distances, controlled work cycles, and indoor material handling. Those conditions reduce range anxiety, keep energy use predictable, and amplify the value of lower noise for teams working near-processing lines. For multi-shift sites, the consistency of cycle times creates natural windows to manage charging without harming throughput. The clear through-line from the reporting is this: when the work is contained, repetitive, and close to power, electric mid-size machines can carry the load and drive operational cost savings.
The Bond4 Tech Take
Operators should read this as a green light for selective electrification of yard equipment, not a mandate for fleet-wide change. If your MRF, transfer station, or C&D line has loaders shuttling short runs between hoppers, bunkers, and stockpiles, you’re in the strike zone. The immediate to-dos: model duty cycles by machine-hour, define charging windows in the shift plan, and negotiate dealer support SLAs that mirror your uptime requirements. Budget for power drops and charger placement the way you’d plan fuel island logistics — they become dispatch constraints. On the finance side, push TCO scenarios that tie energy and maintenance assumptions to your actual shift cadence; then flow those costs into job costing and customer pricing. Expect procurement pressure: once one operator proves multi-shift viability, others follow, and delivery lead times tighten. Our view: start with one or two electric loaders inside the fence where cycles are predictable, prove the schedule, then scale. That’s where electrification adds margin instead of risk.
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Researched and drafted with AI assistance by the Bond4Waste editorial team. All credit for original reporting goes to Recycling Product News — Organics.
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