The 14-tonne Isuzu vehicle will start collecting cardboard and other recycling later this month, as part of a sustainability partnership between the university and Waste Management Ltd.
Waste Management South Island general manager Gareth James said this was the first fully electric, rear load operating commercial waste truck in Dunedin.
The company also operates an electric truck in Queenstown.
Otago University Property Services division director Dean Macaulay said this "fantastic initiative" was consistent with the university’s strategic goal of halving its waste to landfill by 2022.
University sustainability head Ray O’Brien said the truck initiative was a "great example" of an outcome resulting from working on sustainability with "partners in our supply chain”.
Mr James said the company worked closely with the university on sustainability initiatives, and employed a dedicated waste minimisation co-ordinator to work on campus, to help limit waste and increase recycling.
Company regional manager, Otago, Greg Nel was "extremely proud" of the company’s moves to electrify its waste collection fleet.
The new vehicle was similar in appearance to a standard diesel truck, and the same waste collection work was being done "with a vehicle that has no emissions," he added.