A trail-blazing waste cooking oil to biodiesel service being promoted in Great Yarmouth tomorrow (Tuesday 25 Sept) will also help to keep the town’s sewers running freely.

The Yarmouth area’s 1700 catering businesses are being urged to sign up for a free waste cooking oil collection service being launched by Great Yarmouth’s Biodiesel Partnership, which comprises Anglian Water, J & H Bunn Ltd and Great Yarmouth Borough Council.  The scheme has the potential to be the largest in the UK and the unique partnership is also thought to be the first of its kind in the country.  

The oil is being converted into environmentally-friendly biodiesel, providing fuel for local commercial vehicles while helping keep Yarmouth’s drainage system free of blockages. Currently some 10,000 tonnes of fat, oil and grease clog up the Eastern region’s sewers impeding capacity when dealing with heavy rain storms.

Other benefits of the scheme include:

• Providing commercial kitchens with certificated waste oil collection.

• Improving Yarmouth’s recycling performance and reducing the amount of vegetable oil going to waste.

• Supporting the local economy with additional jobs.

The official launch of the scheme will be at the ‘Your Borough, Your Council’ event in Great Yarmouth Market Place on Tuesday at 12 noon.

To register for the scheme businesses should call 0800 977 7847. They will be provided with a free container for waste cooking oil, which will be collected when full and replaced with a new container.

So far 200 businesses have signed up for a cooking oil container.  Councillor Barry Coleman, Leader of Great Yarmouth Borough Council said: “I urge all commercial caterers to join the waste cooking oil collection scheme. It’s both a neat way to solve a business waste problem and improve the area’s environment.”

Collette Nicholls of Anglian Water said: “We are delighted to be involved in the free waste cooking oil collection scheme in Great Yarmouth, because working together to prevent the dumping of oil in the streets or down sewers is the best way to help protect the environment.

“We calculate that around 10 per cent of our sewer network is clogged with 10,000 tonnes of fats, oils and grease at any one time. Not only is it costly – around £5million a year to keep the sewers clean – we need to ensure that wastewater can flow freely through the sewers especially in the face of climate change and freak weather conditions.”

David Harrod, Director J & H Bunn Ltd said: “ We have been producing biodiesel for some time and operate our own vehicles on a mineral/biodiesel mix. We are delighted to be working with the Council and Anglian Water on the waste cooking oil scheme. It’s a real win win for the area.”

For more information from Anglian Water Press Office contact Collette Nicholls on 0870 600 5 600