A NEW initiative to recycle used cooking oil to generate green electricity is coming to East Cambridgeshire. Cambridgeshire County Council, Donarbon Waste Management Ltd. and Living Fuels have teamed up with Anglian Water to launch the scheme. This initia

A NEW initiative to recycle used cooking oil to generate green electricity is coming to East Cambridgeshire.

Cambridgeshire County Council, Donarbon Waste Management Ltd. and Living Fuels have teamed up with Anglian Water to launch the scheme.

This initiative will help householders put their waste vegetable cooking oil to good use instead of pouring it down the sink which causes blockages costing Anglian Water more than £5 million a year to clear up.

From July 10, waste cooking oil recycling banks will be found at all Cambridgeshire Recycling Centres, including the Grunty Fen centre at Witchford. Living Fuels, the suppliers of these banks, will recycle and purify the used cooking oil for the generation of green electricity.

Vegetable-based cooking oils can be recycled at the centres. Once the oil is cool it can be poured into a suitable sealable container before being taken to be recycled and poured into one of the special banks.

County 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, Donarbon 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."

Collette Nicholls, of Anglian Water, said: "We are delighted that Cambridgeshire County Council has taken this move. We applaud initiatives which help to stop any food waste going down the sink and we hope that our customers in Cambridgeshire will take up this opportunity to recycle their waste cooking oil."

Adrian Venni, Managing Director of Living Fuels, said: "We are really happy to be working with the county council to offer this exciting new service to Cambridgeshire residents. Throwing away used cooking oil is a problem for two reasons - it clogs up drains and sewers, and it contains unused energy, which we cannot afford to waste. This initiative solves both problems at a stroke, and excitingly all those people returning their used cooking oil become active participants in the generation of renewable electricity and the reduction of carbon emissions."

INFO: For details of your nearest Recycling Centre, contact us on 0845 045 5200 or visit www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/environment/waste