Scarborough bin lorries to run on recycled vegetable oil

Bin lorries in Scarborough are to be powered by recycled vegetable oil as part of a year-long trial.

The vehicles will run on hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) instead of diesel in a bid to slash carbon emissions.

Scarborough Borough Council said the fuel would be used in more than half of the vehicles at its Dean Road depot, including bin lorries and lawnmowers.

The authority estimates the trial will prevent almost 900 tonnes of CO2 entering the atmosphere.

Harry Baross, climate change and carbon reduction officer, said HVO is a "brilliant half-way point" and will "do wonders" for the authority's carbon footprint, with council vans, trucks and plant equipment typically consuming about 30,000 litres of diesel a month.

"There are so many challenges with decarbonising some of the heavier fleet," he said.

"Electric is just not feasible at the moment, hydrogen is a long way off, so finding the best middle ground of bio-fuel which is really healthy, sustainable and doesn't put much burden on the drivers is an absolute brilliant thing."

Cllr Michelle Donohue-Moncrieff said the switch to HVO has already cut the authority's harmful emissions by 90%.

"It's a huge step towards our goal to minimise the harmful affect our services have on our fragile environment," she said.

"Our overall CO2 emissions are the lowest they've been for more than 15 years and should be driven down further because of this trial."

Fleet manager, Steve Hood, said HVO gives an "almost like-for-like replacement of diesel" and said there had been "no issues" in the initial part of the trial with most vehicles able to use it without any modification.

He said HVO is great for large vehicles collecting waste in rural and seaside areas.

"We're now running about 65% of the fleet on HVO with another 10 ride-on mowers due to go on to HVO in the next fortnight," he added.

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