Vegetable oil-fulled bin lorries begin service

A fleet of bin lorries fuelled by leftover vegetable oil is being rolled out in part of Nottinghamshire.

Rushcliffe Borough Council said the 21 vehicles run on hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO), which the authority said reduced their carbon dioxide emissions by 90%.

Supermarkets and other suppliers are providing unused oil to power the lorries, the council said.

It said it planned to convert other smaller vehicles in its fleet to run on the fuel as part of the authority's wider aim to become carbon neutral by 2030.

Rob Inglis, the council's cabinet member for environment and safety, said: "HVO offers a good, reliable transitional arrangement that has not affected the day to day running of our vehicles.

“We are continuing to explore electric vehicles and other alternatives as the technology develops, but further work is needed on charging infrastructure and suitability of electric vehicles due to the cost, range and rural nature of parts of our borough."

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