Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council to more than halve its carbon footprint by swapping diesel for biofuel in its garbage trucks

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council will more than halve its carbon footprint when its kerbside waste and recycling trucks swap diesel for a low-carbon biofuel this month.

With carbon emissions up to 98 per cent lower than diesel according to government conversion figures, the move to hydrogenated vegetable oil will make the borough’s air cleaner and the council’s waste and recycling collections more environmentally friendly.

As part of its work to tackle the climate emergency by becoming a carbon-neutral council by December 2025, the council already uses this biofuel in all 25 of its grass mowers, eight sweepers, two tipper trucks and a small van.

The council’s cabinet member for the climate and ecological emergency Chris Tomblin said: “We know how important waste and recycling collections are to our residents and I’m pleased this swap to biofuel gives us a way to maintain a reliable service and cut our current carbon footprint by over 1,000 tonnes at the same time.

“Combined with our other carbon-cutting action so far, this swap means the council will have shrunk its carbon footprint by more than 70 per cent since declaring a climate emergency and setting its ambitious target to be carbon neutral by December 2025.”

Alongside this fuel change, the council’s waste and recycling services contractor Serco has also started trialling a zero-emission electric bin truck.

Supplied by e-fleet solutions provider VEV and Refuse Vehicle Solutions, the zero-emission bin truck will take to the streets across Basingstoke and Deane as part of a six-week pilot scheme.