North Kesteven District Council cuts emissions by running its bin lorry fleet on recycled vegetable oil

The district council says new fuel eliminates almost all of the fleet’s emissions, promotes cleaner air and significantly reduces the authority’s carbon footprint.

All but two of the fleet’s 31 diesel-fuelled vehicles have been moved over to hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO), one of the cleanest fuels on the market which is low odour and overall reduces greenhouse gas emissions by around 90 per cent over regular fuel; removing around 800 tonnes of CO2 equivalent per year from the council’s daily operations.

This latest advance in the council’s climate action priority is additional to the four electric vehicles already operated by the Waste and Street Scene Team and expanding installation of rooftop solar panels, air source heating and energy efficiency and cost-saving enhancements across the council’s broader estate, offices, leisure centres and council housing.

Travelling around 400,000 miles a year, the fleet includes 24 freighters that empty around 55,000 domestic bins weekly, and vans and other vehicles used for other functions and fleet support.

Council Leader Coun Richard Wright said this was a significant advancement in the council’s environmental commitment, enhancing air quality and greatly reducing the direct impact of the refuse and recycling service’s operations which last year accounted for 41 per cent of the council’s overall carbon footprint.

“Our vehicles travel along every road in the district, servicing every home, clearing fly tipping and undertaking other vital environmental tasks right across the area. Now as they do so, there will be greatly reduced atmospheric impact as climate damaging emissions direct from the exhausts will be 98 per cent lower from vehicles using HVO over regular diesel,” he said.

Overall, taking into account the whole supply chain of the HVO and averaging across the entire fleet which still includes some limited regular diesel use, the emissions reduction is expected to be nearer 90 per cent.

“In keeping with the entire ethos of waste minimisation, repurposing and recycling, the HVO is itself the product of recycling as the oils that are converted into the fuel have already been used for the purpose they were grown for and re-collected for secondary use. While litre for litre HVO costs around 10 per cent more than regular diesel, we believe that it’s a price worth paying for the broader environmental benefits and cleaner air quality it achieves for our communities,” said Coun Wright.

“We have for some time been exploring the practicalities of electrifying the entire fleet and have, in the past two years, introduced four electric vehicles which are a positive contribution. Although HVO is currently more expensive than fossil diesel due to production costs and material sourcing, it offers the significant reduction in net emissions we have been striving for, without the huge cost of replacing our existing vehicles. This way we’ve achieved a more cost-effective and swifter alternative to electrification and contribute immediately to cleaner air as we drive around the district delivering a valued service.”

Also called HVO diesel or HVO renewable diesel, HVO is a second-generation, fossil-free and sustainable fuel, synthesised from waste streams, and recycled vegetable oils and fats by hydrotreating the raw materials to change their molecular structure to create a consistent carbon chain without the impurities found in traditional diesel or biofuels; eliminating up to 90 per cent of net CO2 and significantly reducing nitrogen oxide, particulate matter and carbon monoxide emissions.

Fully biodegradable, sustainable and non-toxic, it is being adopted as a fuel by a wide range of industries as a direct alternative to diesel, including construction, rail, events, marine and public transport due to its wide-ranging environmental and operational benefits.