Waste Oil Recycling in Prisons

 


It is estimated that some 200,000 tonnes of used cooking oil is generated per annum in the UK. At present only around 100,000 tonnes is collected with much of the remainder poured down drains, sent to landfill or utilised for small scale biodiesel production. In 2009 Dr Ryan Woodard worked in partnership with HMP Ford, Work This Way and Labour Plus and colleagues at the University of Brighton on the Waste Oil Recycling in Prisons Project (WORPP).

The aim of the project was to collect used cooking oil from prisons to make biodiesel to fuel vehicles in the prisons fleet. An important part of the project was involving offender in the processing and manufacturing of the biodiesel as part of a rehabilitation programme. WORPP was short listed as a finalist for the Big Green Challenge award.

Dr Woodard conducted a feasibility study looking at the options for collecting and processing cooking oil from prisons throughout the South East of England, assessing the potential environmental savings from using biodiesel in the prisons fleet and developed a business plan for rolling out the WORPP model to other prisons. We are currently looking at how this project can be expanded.

For more information please contact Dr Ryan Woodard.