Portsmouth City Council's waste collection vehicles will be using a cleaner fuel created from vegetable oil in order to comply with the city’s Clean Air Zone (CAZ).
Many of the council's own collection vehicles will be working in the CAZ, which is due to start in the city on 29 November 2021, so the council, working in partnership with Biffa, have taken the opportunity to change to a greener fuel.
The fuel, called Green D+ HVO, is a sustainable renewable substitute for diesel and entirely made from materials such as used cooking oils and other waste oils. It does not contain any virgin crop.
‘I welcome this move that will benefit the whole city by offering a greener way of collecting waste,’ said Cllr Dave Ashmore, Cabinet Member for Community Safety & Environment.
‘As a council, we declared a climate emergency in 2019 and set the goal to reach carbon neutrality by 2030, and that means every part of the council needs to play their part.’
Cllr Kimberly Barrett, Cabinet Member for Climate Change and the Green Recovery, said: ‘Air pollution is the biggest environmental killer in the UK, so it’s vital for us to take steps to make the air we breathe cleaner for everyone.
‘Eleven HGV’s using the new fuel produce the same CO2e as one HGV using regular diesel, and that's the change we need to see locally.’
