Blaby District Council slash greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent – and is ‘largely’ due to lorries running on vegetable oil

Mason Moore | Hinckley Reporter | 20 October 2023

BLABY District Council has slashed its greenhouse gas emissions by 30 per cent in the last year.

**The fleet has reduced greenhouse gas emissions** (Image: BDC)

The authority have estimated that next year’s results for 2023 to 2024 are to be ‘even greater’, with an estimated reduction of 80 per cent or more, on the baseline year of 2018 to 2019.

In a statement seen by the Hinckley Free Press, a district council spokesperson said: “The impressive reduction is largely due to switching all of our bin lorries to hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO). HVO is a greener form of diesel, derived from waste oils, offering around 90% reduction in carbon emissions compared to fossil fuels. All the Council’s bin lorries use HVO after it was first introduced last autumn.”

The 30 per cent reduction has seen a drop in CO2 levels from 692 tonnes in 2021 to 2022, down to 488 tonnes in 2023 to 2023, showing the partial year impact of using the hydrotreated vegetable oil.

And, while figures can only be estimated, it is expected the reduction will drop to around 140 tonnes CO2 in 2023/24. This is due to 2023 to 2024 being the first full year of reporting the impact of HVO.

Fleet operations account for some 73 per cent of all the council’s carbon emissions.

Coun. Les Phillimore, the District Council’s Portfolio Holder for Housing, Community and Environmental Services, said: “This is a fantastic achievement as we work to reduce our carbon footprint as much as we can. Such an impressive reduction in just one year – and without taking into account the full impact of HVO – is something we should all applaud.

“However, we are not resting on our laurels. We are committed to act on avoiding the worst effects of climate change and we aim to achieve net zero as an organisation by 2030. So, while HVO is delivering carbon reduction results, we have always seen it as an interim measure and we can and will go further.”

Coun. Nigel Grundy, who has responsibility of the District Council’s fleet, added: “Over time we plan to transition our fleet to electric. We will retain our HVO vehicles while natural replacement will allow us to introduce electric vehicles and we will be commencing the first phase of EV infrastructure to support that process at our Whetstone depot next year.”