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Fleet of bin lorries to make switch from diesel to vegetable oil in trial

A council will make the switch from diesel to vegetable oil for its bin lorries <i>(Image: Wealden District Council)</i>
A council will make the switch from diesel to vegetable oil for its bin lorries (Image: Wealden District Council)

A council's fleet of more than 30 bin lorries and street cleaning vehicles will make the switch from diesel to vegetable oil.

The year-long trial will see the vehicles use hydrotreated vegetable oil which will reduce carbon emissions in each vehicle by 90 per cent.

Wealden District Council expect to save a total of almost 1,800 tonnes of CO 2 per year.

It forms part of the council's ambition to be carbon net-zero by 2050 or sooner.


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Councillor Ray Cade, portfolio holder for Housing and Waste, said, “We are delighted to be working together with Biffa delivering this positive change using the latest in fuel technology to improve how we deliver essential waste services while being conscious of protecting the environment.”

The move will see 33 vehicles make the switch in total.

Councillor Pam Doodes, portfolio holder for Climate Change, Public Health and Community Leadership, said, “This is a strong commitment by Wealden to tackling climate change and I hope it will be seen as an opportunity by other local operators of diesel powered commercial vehicles to make a similar change for the benefit of our environment.”

The council offered up to a 27 per cent wage increase for striking workers last June.