Prison oil recycling project helps west Sussex go green
22/10/2008
"The Big Green Challenge was launched to encourage communities of any kind to come together to generate new ideas on how to reduce their carbon footprint."
This Friday, the Governor of HMP Ford, Fiona Radford and Lord Filkin, Patron of Work This Way, a charity based at HMP Ford, will launch a unique community-led recycling project that uses prison waste oil to produce bio-diesel as part of the NESTA Big Green Challenge.
The Waste Oil Recycling Project (WORRP) is one of 10 finalists in the UK-wide Big Green Challenge - an initiative of the National Endowment for Science Technology and the Arts (NESTA) to find better and new ways to tackle climate change.
The project, led by community network Work this Way, will be training offenders at HMP FORD in Arundel, Wes Sussex , in how to turn old cooking oil into bio-fuel, a skill which could help them gain employment after they are released.
As a finalist, the Waste Oil Recycling in Prisons Project has secured a £20,000 grant to pilot their project which will train and employ resettlement offenders at HMP Ford - an open prison for up to 540 men - in producing bio-diesel. Around 40 offenders a year will learn how to convert used vegetable oil and could ultimately be employed by the prison's own bio-fuel production unit.
It is estimated that the project would amount to almost a quarter of a tonne of CO2 being reduced per member of the group and there is scope to begin collecting cooking oil from other prisons in the area and eventually replicating the model to prisons nationwide.
After 12 months, the Big Green Challenge judges will decide on the overall winner - or winners - with the prize money going to those projects that can prove their ideas will have an impact on their carbon footprint.
Lord Filkin said "Work this Way is addressing two big societal issues at once - not only are we working towards our mission to reduce re-offending, we're also addressing a serious global environment issue. We are thrilled be one of the ten Big Green Challenge Finalists and to be working on a new carbon reducing project that also provides employment related training and experience for offenders."
NESTA CEO Jonathan Kestenbaum said, "The Big Green Challenge was launched to encourage communities of any kind to come together to generate new ideas on how to reduce their carbon footprint. The Waste Oil Recycling in Prisons Project at HMP Ford is an excellent example of how social innovation can help the environment and make a difference to the big issues of today."
Governor Fiona Radford Governor of HMP Ford added, "This is a great opportunity for Ford Prison to be involved in cutting edge technology and brand new training provision for offenders. One of my staff, Officer Pete Nettle, saw the possibility for this work a year ago and at last we are able to work with partners to test out his ideas. We look forward to the next twelve months of NESTA's Big Green Challenge to see how it develops."
Contact:
NESTA Press Office: Jo Oakes on Tel: 0207 438 2609, email Jo.Oakes@nesta.org.uk, or Catherine Anderson on Tel: 020 7438 2609, email Catherine.Anderson@nesta.org.uk
Notes to editors
NESTA
NESTA is the National Endowment for Science, Technology & the Arts. Our mission is to transform the UK's capacity for innovation. We do this in three main ways: by working to build a more pervasive culture of innovation in this country; by providing innovators with access to early stage capital; and by driving forward research into innovation, with a view to influencing policy. www.nesta.org.uk
The Big Green Challenge
Launched in October 2007, the Big Green Challenge is a £1 million prize fund to encourage and reward people working together to find new and better ways to tackle climate change. NESTA is challenging not-for-profit groups and organisations to develop and implement approaches to achieve significant reduction of C02 emissions in their communities.
Through the Big Green Challenge, we aim to reveal, and better understand, the potential power of new forms of community-led action on climate change - and improve the infrastructure (support, finance, organisational structure and policy) needed to maximise the potential of these innovations.
The Waste Oil Recycling in Prisons Project
The Waste Oil Recycling in Prisons Project (WORPP) is led by community network Work this Way. WORPP has received £20,000 to invest in their scheme to train inmates in how to turn old cooking oil into bio-fuel. WORPP is also looking to set up a bio-lab and begin developing products that can be made from the bi-products of bio fuel, such as glycerine which could be made into soap, degreaser or compost.