HOUSEHOLDS in the Huntingdonshire area can now recycle their used cooking oil to generate green electricity. The Cambridgeshire County Council initiative, launched last week, will be a welcome addition to existing recycling opportunities that put Huntingd

HOUSEHOLDS in the Huntingdonshire area can now recycle their used cooking oil to generate green electricity.

The Cambridgeshire County Council initiative, launched last week, will be a welcome addition to existing recycling opportunities that put Huntingdonshire and South Cambridgeshire in the top 10 areas in England - both recycle more than 50 per cent of household waste.

It will also be a relief to Anglian Water for which drains clogged with cooking fat are a major headache.

AW is one of the partners in the scheme, along with the county council, Donarbon Waste Management, which operates several recycling centres, including Alconbury, and Living Fuels, which is the supplying waste cooking oil recycling banks that are now found at all Cambridgeshire recycling centres. They include those at Alconbury Weston, Bluntisham, Buckden and St Neots.

Once vegetable-based cooking oil is cool, residents can pour it into a suitable sealable container before taking it to be poured into one of the special banks.

Huntingdon Councillor Sir Peter Brown, the county council's lead member for economy, environment and climate change, said: "We are always looking for innovative ways to recycle Cambridgeshire's waste, and we know that residents and the environment will both benefit from this convenient service."

Collette Nicholls, of Anglian Water, added: "We applaud initiatives that help to stop any food waste going down the sink, and we hope that our customers in Cambridgeshire will take up this opportunity to recycle their waste cooking oil."

Adrian Venni, managing director of Living Fuels, said: "Throwing away used cooking oil is a problem for two reasons - it clogs up drains and sewers, and it contains unused energy, which we cannot afford to waste.

"This initiative solves both problems at a stroke, and excitingly all those people returning their used cooking oil become active participants in the generation of renewable electricity and the reduction of carbon emissions.