Innovative cooking oil recycling facility launches - 25 February 2009

Residents can now take their used cooking oil to the local Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC) in Buckinghamshire where processes are in place for the oil to be re-used to generate electricity for householders and businesses.

The county council is working in partnership with Living Fuels, which has developed a process for purifying the oil and enabling it to be re-used for the generation of electricity. Residents will be able to safely dispose of their used cooking oil in collection tanks at all recycling centres. When oil is poured down the sink it can clog up drains and sewers as well as being hazardous to wildlife.

Councils across the country have also been told to reduce the amount of oil sent to landfill to meet stringent green targets or face fines.

Councillor Martin Tett, Member for Strategic Planning and Waste said, "Each of the collection tanks at the nine Buckinghamshire sites has a capacity of 1,000 litres, and 9,000 litres of used cooking oil could generate enough electricity to power seven average UK homes for a year. I would encourage householders to use this service, as it will help to protect the environment and generate renewable power."

The use of used cooking oil in electricity generation reduces carbon emissions meaning that everyone can play a part in building Britain's renewable energy capacity.

Living Fuels operations director, Rob Murphy, said: "We collect the oil at no cost and as often as required. All of our vehicles have been converted to run on the LF100 fuel.

"Every time another collection service is launched, it's an opportunity to get over the message that used cooking oil causes major environmental damage when poured down the sink. It costs water companies literally millions to clear blockages caused in sewers by this build-up of oils."

Residents are asked to bring their oil in containers, which can be taken home and re-used for this purpose. This service is free of charge and available to householders only.

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