Cooperatives Yorkshire and Humber

Clapham Community Cooperative was formed in 2006 to convert used cooking
oil into diesel fuel. The co-operative is based in Clapham, a remote area in
North Yorkshire. In 2007 the cooperative won the 2007 award for
'Innovations in Enterprise' at the Social Enterprise Yorkshire and Humber
Awards.

Eddie Leggett was working as a volunteer at Growing with Grace, a
worker co-operative market helping grow vegetables, when it was suggested that
the business's delivery vans could be run on bio-diesel made from recycled
vegetable oil.

Eddie has an industrial chemistry background which has been put to good
use in design and operation of the equipment itself.

After looking into the process and the equipment needed to make bio-diesel,
he discovered that it would cost around £13,000 to get everything needed.
Eddie decided that to raise the money he needed to get the local community
involved, so in 2006 he set up Clapham Community Co-operative.

The co-operative raised finance through its original 60 members and from
different grants.

Waste cooking oil is collected from local sources including takeaway and fast food
outlets, golf clubs, restaurants, hotels and pubs. It provides a good second life for the oil and involves minimal transportation.

In order to produce the necessary quantities and satisfy the demands of the co-operative, Eddie has shared his skills by training other members with the
intricacies of production.

Some are involved in collecting waste oil from local pubs and restaurants, some
market the bio-diesel, some do the necessary administration and others are
involved in converting vegetable oil to bio-diesel.

"The co-operative structure is great," Eddie says. "Anybody who lives in the
village of Clapham can become a member, and once a member they can
buy bio-diesel from the co-operative, they can get involved in running the cooperative
and they can become a director of the co-operative, which gives them control over how it operates and what it does."

The first batch for commercial sale was ready in June 2007 and the cooperative
has prided itself on producing a high quality product. "Because the members
are putting their trust in those of us who are making the fuel we want to make the
best. When Customs and Excise visited to check our product, they concluded
that we produce the best bio-diesel for an outlet of this size that they'd seen."

“You can with some cleaning go directly from the frying pan to the fuel tank”. The
fuel produced can go straight into the tank and on most modern diesel engines
no modification is required. It also gives much lower emissions of all the main
pollutants associated with fossil fuel diesel such as particle, carbon monoxide
and sulphur while providing greater lubrication to the engine.

The benefits of the co-operative are clear. "It has had an enormous impact
on the sense of community in Clapham. People who previously did not know one
another have been brought together. There is now a real network of villagers,
and this is growing into a set of amazing cohesive relationships.

"What's more, the co-operative has got people talking and thinking about energy, the environment and peak oil. It has dramatically changed the kinds of discussions that you're likely to overhear in the pub!"

01524 251 030