WASTE collections in the conurbation could soon be run on vegetable oil to offer an environmentally friendly service.

A trial will period will see BCP Council’s waste collections run on Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) following an agreement with Crown Oil.

It will be tested on two refuse vehicles The year long trial will deliver a carbon dioxide saving of around 40 metric tonnes per vehicle, (equivalent to 11 hot air balloons of carbon dioxide) and will open up the potential for the fuel to be used within the remainder of the fleet, increasing the environmental benefit and savings across the council.

Portfolio Holder for Environment, Cleansing and Waste, Cllr Mark Anderson said: "This is an important trial that helps us work towards the government’s waste strategy pledge to eliminate food waste to landfill by 2030, by reusing cooking oil waste and converting it into HVO fuel as an alternative, environmentally friendly fuel in our vehicles.  "It supports our sustainable environment objective by promoting sustainable resource management, so I am very interested to see how our refuse vehicles progress through this trial."

The fuel is created by collecting cooking oil waste and putting it through a hydrotreatment process before reusing it in diesel vehicles.

This prevents the oil from nbeing disposed of in landfill or as hazardous waste,  It can also be used as a drop-in alternative to regular diesel with no modifications or changes necessary to the existing fleet.

This will save money as well as reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

Crown Oli technical manager, Simon Lawford said: "We are thrilled that HVO’s environmental and logistical credentials are being increasingly noted and we hope that other councils will follow in BCP Council’s green footsteps.

"The proven benefits of using HVO include year-round usability, up to a 90 per cent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions and a direct drop-in functionality for the council’s existing fleet to use, making it a complete replacement for diesel."