Chinese New Year brings great opportunity to recycle

23 January, 2012

Today is Chinese New Year, hailing the return of the dragon, the most auspicious of the 12 zodiac signs. People born in the year of the Dragon are seen as fiercely intelligent people, who are loyal to their family, successful and passionate.

On the first day of New Year celebrations, we are encouraged to clean out our houses, so taking a trip to your local household waste recycling centre (HWRC) is a great way to start. It’s a perfect time to get rid of any leftover cardboard or packaging, old electrical goods and old clothes that may have filled your wardrobes and drawers in the past year.

Whilst you’re at it, don’t forget to take your used cooking oil along to your nearest HWRC too. Tanks are located at HWRCs around the country for residential used cooking oil disposal, allowing residents to get rid of waste oil in a responsible manner. When full, the used cooking oil tanks are collected by Living Fuels and is recovered through a 100% natural process into our clean, green bioliquid, LF100. This liquid is then fed straight into the National Grid as part of their STOR contract, which offers additional power at times of unexpected electricity demand.

New Year should be a time of making new resolutions and new beginnings, so lets welcome in the Year of the Dragon by throwing out the old and welcoming in the new!

Christmas recycling

20 December, 2011

Christmas comes but once a year, but unfortunately, so does a 30% increase in waste. If you’ve been reading the papers recently, you may have noticed that Christmas decadence is getting more attention than ever, with a veritable quagmire of hints, tips and guides as to what to do with various aspects of your Christmas leftovers. All of this info on what, where and how can sometimes become confusing, so to help you recycle as much as possible, the Living Fuels team have jotted down a comprehensive guide to recycling your waste this Christmas:

Used cooking oil – An excess of oil is used over the Christmas period, with festive fare such as turkey, roast potatoes and Boxing Day fry-ups on the agenda. Why not keep a handy plastic bottle (try using an old Coca-Cola bottle) in the kitchen, to pour cooled oil into, then when you head to your local household waste recycling centre, leave it with site attendants, who will not only dispose of the oil into our Living Fuels tanks, but will recycle the plastic bottle too!

Electrical goods – Chances are that someone in your household will get a new games console/mobile phone/iPod this year. Instead of discarding your old items in some forgotten drawer, why not take them to the household waste recycling centre, which will recycle them into all manner of new and wonderful things.

Christmas trees – It used to be that using an artificial Christmas tree each year was seen to be a more eco-friendly way to celebrate Christmas than chopping down a real pine, however after discovering the carbon content in producing artificial trees, favour has swung in the direction of the real deal once more. After the Christmas period, why not turn your tree into woodchip and use as ground covering? Or you check with your council, as many HWRC’s this year are promoting tree recycling schemes. Alternatively, plant in your garden for use next year.

Wrapping paper – did you know that each year enough wrapping paper is used to cover an area of land bigger than Guernsey? Combat this unnecessary waste stream by adopting the Japanese Furoshiki way of wrapping using material, instead of paper. If you have a delicate touch, why not unwrap presents carefully and then store the paper for use in 2012?

Food waste – If, like me, you’re sick of turkey curry for Boxing Day every year, why not add some new recipes to your collection? How about Bang Bang Turkey or jambalaya? http://www.britishturkey.co.uk/recipes/allrecipes.php has some great ideas to get your creative juices flowing.

Reusing gifts – Lets face it, some gifts just aren’t right for us. Although we will no doubt smile and say ‘thank you’ when the time comes, presents we don’t like are bound to be relegated to a cupboard in the darkest corner of the house. That’s where ‘regifting’ comes in. If you are given a book that you’ve already read, or a video game for the wrong console, just save them and pass them on to someone that will use it for their next birthday – saves money, time and waste. Just be careful not to regift back to the original present giver!

Clothes – New pair of trainers? Gift cards for Debenhams? If you are lucky enough to be able to revamp your wardrobe this year, make sure to donate the clothes you replace to a charity and help provide for the less fortunate this festive season.

So there you have it, Christmas waste can be turned into something productive. If you have any hints or tips of your own, we’d love to hear from you – please leave a comment in the box below.

Merry Christmas and a ‘green’ New Year, from all at the Living Fuels team.

Great news about the increase in household waste recycling figures, but we can still do more.

18 November, 2011

I was heartened to see the article in MRW magazine (‘English household recycling up again’) this week that Defra have reported a countrywide increase in household waste recycling figures, with England alone scoring a 41.2% recycling figure, up from 39.7% in in 2010. This means that homeowners around the country are really beginning to embrace the recycling zeitgeist.

Long have the perils of sending waste to landfill been highlighted; I remember my mother taking me to HWRC sites as a child and extolling the virtues of recycling paper and cardboard back in the 1990’s. Of course, back then recycling was done far more infrequently and the lure of driving to a household recycling centre was minimal to say the least. Fast forward 20 years and traffic to sites has risen vastly. Even if you can’t bring yourself to take a trip to the tip waste disposal is easier than ever before, with councils implementing kerbside recycling schemes and most supermarkets offering recycling facilities in their car parks. In fact, figures show that we now recycle 181kg per person, per year, as opposed to 1991/2 when the figure was a paltry 11kg. We have, as a country it seems, started to realise that our waste problem won’t just go away and that we need to make positive changes to ensure the future of our planet.
Although these figures bear glad tidings, there is so much more to do when reducing our waste and recycling our rubbish. Awareness of such things as reduction in excess (food, packaging, etc) and energy from waste needs to be highlighted; we must encourage more people to recycle and think about where their waste goes. Take used cooking oil, for instance; there is a way to dispose of this waste stream in a responsible manner, rather than pouring it down the sink or sending it to landfill. If oil is recycled after cooking, then it can be turned into green electricity that is fed into the National Grid, a much better idea than disposal through ways that cause damage to the environment and leave the taxpayer with hefty bills through drain repairs. However, the majority of people in the UK do not realise that this is a possibility, or think that the only use for waste oil is in biodiesel, which relies on chemicals and additives for its production.
Even in terms of economic growth, recycling is becoming an increasingly powerful medium. Renewable energy is a fast advancing business, with predictions that the market could generate between 16,000 and 50,000 jobs before 2020. Estimates that renewable energy derived from waste products contributing up to 17% of total electricity are also predicted for the same year, meaning that the renewables market could have a very beneficial impact on trade and industry in the future.
It is imperative then to highlight the positives of recycling, whether it’s reduction of carbon emissions, generating power from waste or decreasing our reliance on fossil fuels, positive waste management and reduction is more important now than ever before. We need to spread the word that recycling has to be an essential part of our future, not something that one does on a haphazard basis. With the Revised Waste Framework Directive meaning that 50% of household waste must be recycled by 2020, now is the time to make a concerted effort to get into a pro-recycling frame of mind.

Sources:
Recycling and Waste World ‘Household Food Waste Costs £12bn’/’Subsidies: Shifting Power Streams’ November 17th 2011
MRW.co.uk/8622112.article
Defra Waste Data Overview, June 2011
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-15799624

Response to the proposed DECC Legislation

09 November, 2011

Managing Director of REG Bio-Power, Ian Collins comments on the proposed DECC legislation:

On 20th October 2011 The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) launched a consultation document which suggested amendments to the Renewables Obligation banding.

At the present time Renewable Obligation Certificates (ROCs) are one of the ways the government incentivises businesses to research and implement renewable energy generation. Our proprietary bioliquid, LF100 is recovered from used cooking oil in a natural and sustainable manner, which scores highly on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) sustainability measurement criteria, as we are recovering what is, in effect, a waste product into a renewable fuel.

The new banding consultation is interesting for REG Bio-Power as there are some key proposals that affect those involved in generating electricity from bioliquids. The consultation proposes to support bioliquids at the same level as for solid biomass, which is currently awarded 1.5 ROCs for electricity generation. Alongside this DECC are proposing that bioliquids are also ‘grandfathered’ under the same conditions as solid biomass.

At present, the Renewables Obligation means REG Bio-Power receives 1.5 ROCs per mWh for generating electricity from our proprietary bioliquid, LF100. For our combined heat and power (CHP) generation we currently receive an extra 0.5 ROC for the heat element. Under the proposed banding, it looks as if the CHP support will be transferred to the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) post April 2013.

REG Bio-Power is actively interested in this consultation as it supports its Living Fuels and Living Power operating companies. We intend to take a full and active role in responding to the consultation, before its closure date on 12th January 2012.

To find out more on the DECC Renewables Obligation consultation, please visit http://www.decc.gov.uk/en/content/cms/consultations/cons_ro_review/cons_ro_review.aspx

Recycling this Diwali

25 October, 2011

Diwali, the festival of light, is one of the most enjoyable times in the Hindu calendar and a festival of wealth and auspiciousness. As a celebration of this festival, wouldn’t it be great to provide a means of reducing bills from water companies for the coming year, while at the same time helping to save the environment?
When used cooking oil is poured down the drains you may believe you’ve gotten rid of the problem, however, think again. An estimated £15 million per year is spent by water companies clearing drains blocked by fats, oils and greases. Not only is this costly to the taxpayer, but also creates problems for the homeowner, as blockages can back-up into houses which often lead to pipes on private property being disturbed. This is a problem that can be easily fixed, yet 37% of householders aged 18-44 admit they are still pouring oil down the sink.
Used cooking oil disposed of down drains and in landfill causes other problems too, causing harm to watercourses and wildlife. In a recent tragedy, a pond in Elstree meant that around 5,000 fish died, all due to irresponsible disposal of oil. Initial reports by Thames Water highlighted that this was probably attributed to ‘brazen sewer abuse’.
Conversely, recycling your waste oil couldn’t be easier. When you cook, pour any leftover oil into a resealable container then, whenever you visit your local household waste recycling centre, make sure to take along the oil and give it to the site staff, who will dispose of it in the correct tank. You can even find your nearest centre by using the Living Fuels’ postcode finder. Much less trouble than pouring it down the sink, in the long run.
When waste cooking oil is disposed of correctly at household waste recycling centres, it is recovered by Living Fuels using a completely natural process which involves only settling and filtering. Unlike the heavily chemical process of manufacturing biodiesel, neither chemicals not heat are added. Once recovered our clean, green bioliquid, LF100, is used to power our renewable combined heat and power (CHP) units which help to power the National Grid at times of unexpected power demand.
So by recycling your oil not only will you be ensuring that the planet stays green in the future, you’ll also be powering your home and saving money from water companies. Therefore let’s make Diwali even more prosperous by recycling our old oil and helping to create light in our homes.

Shubh Diwali!

1 Source: water companies spend more than £15 million per year cleaning up the damage caused by fats, oils and greases poured directly into the watercourse (source: Water UK). Anglian Water found that fat production for cooking purposes has tripled since the 1960s.

2 All figures, unless otherwise stated, are from YouGov Plc. Total sample size was 2015 adults. Fieldwork was undertaken between 07.02.11 – 09.02.11. The survey was carried out online. The figures have been weighted and are representative of all GB adults (aged 18+).

3 37% of 18 to 44 year olds admit to pouring used cooking oil down the drain or sink compared to only 19% of the 45+ year olds.

4 Elstree lake pollution with ‘cooking oil’ slammed as ‘brazen sewer abuse’. Source: The Borehamwood and ElstreeTimes 13th October 2011

Investing in new cars...

10 August, 2011

Tesla Roadster, Ford’s C-Max Energi, Toyota’s Estima, Honda Insight, Nissan Leaf and Hyundai Sonata.
All of these cars have been released in the past couple of years or are due to be released by 2012 and have one thing in common, a hybrid engine. It’s great to see that car manufacturers are beginning to look into greener alternatives to the 600 million plus passenger cars on the road at the moment; however, is this new breed of car as green as claimed?
Surprisingly, when looking at hybrid cars straight off the production line they actually have a bigger carbon footprint than a standard diesel car, something which won’t change until the diesel powered vehicle has travelled around 80,000 miles .This is due in part to the factories expending a lot of carbon hungry energy on making more complex batteries for the hybrids (several EV’s whereas diesel cars contain only one), and only semi-mass production of the expensive hybrids, rather than mass production of a standard car. In fact, over half of a hybrid’s carbon footprint is created during production. The cost of buying further batteries when the original ones run down is also not just expensive, but makes for more carbon foot printing.
Recently, Jeremy Clarkson test drove the Nissan Leaf for Top Gear and reported that the car’s battery ran flat after around 30 miles . Nissan hit back against the claims, stating that the car was only 40% charged at the time. The idea that a batter can run flat after such a short distance is another problem facing the buyers of hybrid cars, and one that is very undesirable when considering a reliable form of transport. There have been more electric pumps turning up around the country to deal with the problem; however, these stations are all using brown energy. We all know that electricity is a huge component of our pollution figures, so if a car is fuelled on ‘brown’ electricity, it’s still adding to carbon emissions and greenhouse gasses. Running a hybrid on ‘green’ electricity could cut post production emissions by half, which is why it is becoming increasingly important to champion green electricity fill up stations, instead of the brown ones which are popping up around the country.
On the plus side, although there’s an expensive initial cost to the hybrid cars, over time they are much cheaper for the car-owner. The cost of refuelling and replacing batteries is much lower in cost than a weekly visit to the petrol pump, even if the cost of replacement batteries for the hybrid were included. By buying a hybrid we are also investing in positive technology, financing research into new, more carbon efficient hybrids in the future.
So, the answer to the ‘renewable car’ problem? A hybrid car that has a cheaper initial cost and that runs on green electricity – something Nikola Tesla would be proud of. Something tells me, however, it’ll be a long time coming.

Notes
Information into the carbon footprint of hybrid cars carried out by the Low Carbon Vehicle Partnership
Article Nissan Hits Back at Top Gear published by The Telegraph, 2nd August 2011

Great news all-round at Living Fuels this month

22 July, 2011

It’s been great news all-round at Living Fuels this month. Already we’ve placed new used cooking oil (UCO) tanks at Household Waste Recycling Centres in Stoke-on-Trent, Exeter and the Vale of Glamorgan.

Of course this is excellent news for Living Fuels, but it also means that, as part of our growth of service, we can offer a wider range of people our top quality service. Whether we’re dealing with the public, who are able to dispose of their used cooking oil at more and more civic amenity sites across the UK, the public sector, who are able to consciously rid themselves of a difficult waste stream while donating to charity at the same time, or the private sector, who are benefitting from our green philosophy, we’re able to offer a greater level of service than ever before.

Used cooking oil has always been a difficult waste stream to manage. It costs the tax payer £15 million per annum on expensive drain clearance call outs, as a direct result of fats and oils being poured down the sink. Traditionally the other option to rid yourself of oil is to wait for it to solidify and put it in the bin, but by doing this you’re placing a substance that takes a long time to decompose and produces methane on to our already overfull sites. For the eco-conscious of us, there really is only one solution to this. Oil recycling.

So what can we offer our customers? Well, Living Fuels will provide a free, fully bunded tank at your site. On placement of the tank, a member of our specially trained team will provide you with a health and safety briefing and demonstration on every aspect of the process from pouring to collection. One of our friendly customer service team will call you every month to ascertain the level of UCO in your tank and, when the time comes we will arrange for a collection to be made within one working week. Living Fuels will also provide you with a monthly, quarterly or yearly breakdown of used cooking oil collection, so you know exactly how much oil has been collected. We can even change that into how many houses you’ve helped to power, or cups of tea you’ve been able to make from waste oil! Working with our sister company, Living Power, we can also arrange to fit a genset at your site, so you can make your own electricity and heat, solely using used cooking oil.

Without giving away all of our secrets, the oil goes through a very natural process during recovery into LF100. Unlike biodiesels, which rely heavily on chemicals, once collected, our used cooking oil goes through a 100% natural settling and filtering process, which involves no additives or heating. The recovered LF100 is then placed into our gensets and produces combined electricity and heat (CHP). Recycling used cooking oil this way, is not only the greenest way to go, as confirmed in the DECC 2010 report, which states,
“It can be seen that the highest absolute savings in GHG emissions can be achieved by using refined vegetable oil derived from used cooking oil in a CHP unit…”
but it is also the most efficient, providing up to 80% efficiency, against a compared to conventional supply systems which can often be as low as 45%.
So there you have it, a greener, more efficient way of helping the world, and saving your money.

If you are interested in the possibility of placing a tank, please contact us at info@livingfuels.co.uk or to find your nearest civic amenity site with a used cooking oil tank, please visit www.livingfuels.co.uk and put your postcode into the search bar.