MORE than 288 tonnes of carbon emissions have already been saved after the borough council changed the type of fuel used for its bin trucks three months ago. 

Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council (BDBC) swapped the fuel used by its waste and recycling collection vehicles to low-carbon biofuel in April.

The hydrogenated vegetable oil is an alternative fuel with up to 98 per cent lower emissions than diesel, according to government conversion factors.

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The move to using this more environmentally friendly fuel has resulted in the council more than halving its carbon footprint compared to the same period last year. The new measure is part of the council's work to become carbon neutral by December 2025 to help tackle the climate emergency.

Cabinet member for climate and ecological emergency Cllr Chris Tomblin said: “I know how much people care about and value good waste and recycling collections and I’m so pleased that, by swapping the bin trucks to this biofuel, we’ve kept our service reliable while also helping to make the air we all breathe cleaner and tackle climate change.

“Saving over 288 tonnes of carbon since April alone is such an encouraging start, with this being the equivalent to the emissions absorbed by planting more than 11,000 new trees. I look forward to seeing further significant reductions from our bin trucks’ emissions as we continue to make good progress to become a carbon-neutral council.”

Councillors declared a climate emergency for the borough in 2019, which included setting the ambitious target for the council to become carbon neutral in its operations by December 2025.

More information about the council’s action on climate change is at basingstoke.gov.uk/our-climate-action.