Vegetable oil recycled for energy

A scheme that combines renewable energy, waste management and water conservation by recycling cooking oil is set to launch in East Cambridgeshire.

The new initiative will help residents dispose of their waste vegetable cooking oil in oil recycling banks instead of disposing of it down the sink.

Pouring used cooking oil down the sink causes blockages which cost Anglian Water more than £5 million a year to clean up.

Recycling banks provided by Living Fuels will be available at Cambridgeshire Recycling Centres, where the oil will be collected and then purified for use in the generation of electricity.

County councillor Sir Peter Brown, lead member for Economy, Environment and Climate Change at Cambridgeshire County Council, said: "We are excited to be working with Living Fuels, Donarbon and Anglian Water on this important project.

"We are always looking for innovative ways to recycle Cambridgeshire’s waste and we know that residents and the environment will both benefit from this convenient service."

The living fuels scheme will only use vegetable oil, though scientists have also discovered ways of turning animal fat into fuel.