Veolia and the Merseyside Recycling and Waste Authority (MRWA) have teamed up with cooking oil recycling firm Living Fuels to raise money for Alder Hey Children’s Charity. Running until 30th September every litre of used cooking oil recycled at the centres will not only be used to generate green electricity, but it will also be turned into a donation to Alder Hey Children’s Charity.
Residents are encouraged to take their used cooking oil to collection tanks at any of Veolia’s 15 Household Waste Recycling Centres. Once collected, the oil is taken to Living Fuels’ state-of-the-art recycling facility and recovered naturally into an environmentally friendly bioliquid, LF100. This bioliquid is then used in Living Fuels’ renewable power stations to generate carbon neutral electricity for the National Grid at times of unexpected power demand, helping to lower the UK’s reliance on fossil fuel derived energy generation.
Just one litre of used cooking oil can provide enough renewable electricity to make 240 cups of tea, and one full tank can power the average home for an entire year.
Recycling used cooking oil not only generates renewable energy – it also diverts cooking oil from drains, preventing expensive pipe blockages known as fatbergs. Instead of pouring your used cooking oil down the drain, save it in a jar or plastic bottle and recycle it at one of the 15 tanks across Merseyside and Halton.
Paul Smyth, Contract Manager at Veolia in Merseyside and Halton, said: “We are proud to be turning a national habit of pouring oil down the drains - causing the UK an estimated £15 million per year in removing pipe blockages - into a fantastic way of raising money for a worthy cause. It couldn’t be easier to recycle your used cooking oil, just visit your local recycling centre where our on site attendants will direct you to the container.”
Living Fuels’ Operations Director Rob Murphy said of the drive:
“Living Fuels are delighted to help raise funds for Alder Hey Children’s Hospital, whilst at the same time helping to reduce the country’s dependency on fossil fuels.”
Cath Harding, Head of Community Fundraising at Alder Hey Children’s Charity: “We are delighted to be the beneficiaries of this scheme. We are just months away from opening our new children’s hospital, Alder Hey in the Park, and we still need the support of the local community to ensure we create a world class facility for children and young people in Liverpool and across the UK.”
Alder Hey Children’s Charity raises funds to support the hospital’s pioneering work and aims to improve the quality of life for not only the young people we see each year, but through innovations and research into childhood diseases, the quality of life for children in hospitals across the world.
Every donation we receive enables us to achieve that little bit more from buying vital equipment to building a better environment and providing facilities for families of the 275,000 children treated at Alder Hey every year.