Perth and Kinross Council has trialled Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO) on its refuse collection fleet.
The move saw six lorries move to HVO with a significant reduction in carbon emissions – around 87 tonnes of carbon dioxide across the trial.
As a result of this success, a further 18 bin lorries based at the council’s Friarton Depot were swapped to the more environmentally friendly fuel, in early February 2025.
It is estimated that a reduction in CO2 of around 500 tonnes a year could be achieved through the changeover.
HVO is produced from 100% renewable waste and residue derived feedstocks, capable of cutting carbon emissions by up to 90%.
It provides a simple, readily available fuel source that can be used instead of traditional fossil fuels with minimum changes required to infrastructure and equipment.
Perth and Kinross Council Fleet Manager, Pat Taggart, said:
“The aim for us is to eventually have all our operational depots with bin lorries running on HVO, as part of our wider decarbonisation strategy.
“Our experience to date has been a very positive one not only in the reduction of CO2 emissions from our fleet but also in the practicalities of changing over to HVO – we have not seen any adverse effects on our vehicles such as ad-hoc engine repairs, and the process of running down our diesel supply and moving to the new fuel has been straightforward.
“I’m really pleased that we can do our part to support the circular economy by using waste materials and run our fleet on a certified clean fuel.”
Darren Holloway, Commercial Director for Energy Solutions at Certas Energy, said:
“We are thrilled to be fuelling the transition to net zero for Perth and Kinross Council, who are one of a growing number of public sector organisations switching to HVO.
“Demand for HVO is growing year-on-year across the UK as more organisations are understanding the sustainability benefits of switching to this fuel. We anticipate this trend to continue for the next decade, and the public sector will be a key driver for this.”
Image courtesy of Perth and Kinross Council
