Carillion has launched a six-month trial to recycle waste cooking oil into vehicle fuel at Catterick Garrison.
The project converts used chip fat from the site’s 38 canteens into fuel to run a diesel-engined Peugeot Expert.
If the trial proves successful, it could cut annual fuel costs by £2,500.
A green fuel FuelPod is used to convert the cooking oil and added ethanol into fuel, with no waste product, in around eight hours.
The Renewable Fuel Agency advises that used cooking oil typically offers a lifecycle greenhouse gas saving of 85% compared with diesel road fuel.
Rupert Webster, of Carillion Planned Maintenance, said: “We did a lot of investigation into electric vehicles, but when we started to look at using waste oil, the benefits were immediately obvious.
"The rig we’ve got on site enables us to produce 40 litres of biofuel per week, which is enough to run the van, and we’ll be analysing the cost benefits at the end of the trial.”
The team is on its sixth tank and, while results won’t be analysed in detail until the end of the trial, drivers say the new fuel hasn’t affected vehicle performance.