Staffordshire to trial Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil in its recycling centre vehicles

Recycling Operative Guy Jones from Cannock Recycling Centre

Staffordshire's Household Waste Recycling service is trialling the use of Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) to fuel its site diggers and fleet vehicles.

The six-week trial, at the Cannock HWRC is exploring the potential of HVO as an eco-friendly fuel source, to help the authority reduce its carbon emissions.  

HVO is made from a 100% renewable source and generates around 90% less carbon emissions than traditional diesel fuel. 

Should the trial prove successful, the new low carbon fuel could be used in other vehicles across the authorities 14 sites.

Simon Tagg, Cabinet Member for Environment, infrastructure, and climate change at Staffordshire County Council said:

"As a council with lots of different services, we are always looking at ways of improving our efficiency and to make our operations greener.

“Bringing our Household Waste Recycling Centres back in house in 2022 has given us a great opportunity to explore more sustainable options.  Switching vehicles to a greener fuel source has always been an ambition for the team and we’re looking forward to the trial and more importantly the results.

“Information on the compatibility of these engines with HVO is limited, and there’s no guarantee it will fully work but we’re excited about the potential.  We’ve been working closely with our contractors Biffa on the trial and customers shouldn’t notice any difference to the service.”

Dan Sheppard, Regional General Manager at Biffa said:

“We are delighted to be building on our fantastic partnership with Staffordshire County Council on this trial which supports their net-zero goals and aligns with our extensive drive to deliver alternative, sustainable fuel solutions to our customers.”

Site operative, Guy Jones from Cannock HWRC talks about the HVO trial in this short video.

Further details on the HWRC services are available on the Staffordshire HWRC's webpage.