Liverpool Plans Vegetable Oil-Powered Fleet for Mandatory Food Waste Collection

Liverpool City Council is preparing to comply with upcoming legislation requiring weekly food-waste collections by April 2026 by introducing a fleet of 20 to 36 lorries powered by hydrogenated vegetable oil (HVO), a renewable fuel that emits up to 98% less CO2 than diesel. The initiative is part of a £4.4 million plan to distribute thousands of food-waste bins to households and improve the city's recycling rates, which are currently among the worst in the UK. Although the new vehicles will be diesel-based initially, they will run on HVO to reduce carbon emissions, with long-term ambitions to switch to biogas-powered vehicles. Additionally, the council is considering plans to build an 80,000-tonne food-waste processing plant within the Liverpool City Region to support local biogas infrastructure and reduce transport costs. Officials aim to encourage better use of food-waste containers and reduce the environmental and financial impacts of sending general waste to incineration plants. This plan is set to be reviewed by Liverpool City Council’s cabinet soon.