Chefs will soon be helping to power a fleet of 200 trucks and vans - by serving them their waste cooking oil as fuel.

Richmond Council is turning to the capital’s kitchens as it becomes the first authority in the country to run its entire fleet on biodiesel made from recycled cooking oil.

The move is expected to cut the council’s CO2 output by 1,170 tonnes per year and will save about £60,000 on the authority’s yearly fuel bill.

Everything from rubbish trucks to social service buses will run on 100 per cent recycled oil - other authorities use a biofuel/diesel mix but Richmond is set to be the UK’s first fully eco-friendly fleet.

The council’s cabinet member for traffic, transport and parking, Councillor David Trigg, said: “Protecting the environment is at the core of everything the council stands for and making our vehicle fleet run on used cooking oil is a huge sign of our commitment to cutting CO2 in the air.

“The decision has also been a commercial one - the contract the council has negotiated will see our fuel costs drop as the biodiesel will be more than five pence per litre less than standard diesel.

London firm, Uptown Oils, has been approved as the main supplier in a contract worth up to £3.5m over five years - edging out Twickenham based Proper Oils, which will act as the reserve supplier.

Its decision ensures the carbon footprint involved in transporting it is kept to a minimum.

The change to a fleet to run on environmentally friendly biodiesel - a straight replacement fuel - follows a successful council trial in 2007. A spokesman for the authority said it hoped the country’s eco-friendly fleet would be launched by January.

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