Disposal of cooking oil down sink plugholes or the sewer should be avoided as it can cause blockages. Inappropriate disposal to surface water drains pollutes watercourses and can damage vegetation and wildlife.
Under a new scheme managed by Cambridgeshire County Council, used cooking oil will be recycled to generate electricity.
Tonnes of used household cooking oil that would otherwise clog up plugholes or be dumped will soon be recycled in Cambridgeshire to generate electricity.
Residents are being encouraged to keep any used vegetable oil and take it to one of the ten recycling centres across the county.
The initiative by Cambridgeshire County Council will be officially launched on Thursday 10th July. It has been described as a breakthrough and an environmentally-friendly answer to the tricky problem of getting rid of greasy household waste that can become a potential pollutant. It also costs water companies millions of pounds to repair sewers clogged with this waste each year.
Oil poured into special containers at the recycling centres will be removed by a specialist company called Living Fuels. The oil will be taken to Hockwold, near Thetford. Once there, it will be recycled, purified and converted into clean, renewable energy.
It has been calculated that 225,000 tonnes of used cooking oil is thrown away every year in the UK.
If this was all collected and refined, the resulting biofuel could generate more than 13,000-megawatt hours of electricity per year, the equivalent to the annual average consumption of around 2,200 households.
Councillor Sir Peter Brown, Lead Member for Economy, Environment and Climate Change at Cambridgeshire County Council, said:
“We are excited to be working with Living Fuels and Anglian Water on this important project. We are always looking for innovative ways to recycle Cambridgeshire’s waste and we know that residents and the environment will both benefit from this convenient service.”
The new recycling points are only available to domestic users. Businesses such as fish and chip shops and take-aways should have their oil collected by a registered contractor.
Although most homes individually don't generate large amounts of used cooking oil, the wider environmental benefits of collecting this waste county-wide are huge.
Any household vegetable oil will be accepted at Alconbury, Bluntisham, Buckden, Grunty Fen, March, Milton, St. Neots, Thriplow, Whittlesey, Wisbech recycling sites.