Minister hears how scrap kitchens can help cool global warming

Published by webmaster for Bridge Group, The in Communities

A PIONEERING energy-sharing scheme, which sees thousands of local authority and housing association kitchens crushed and used for fuel, has been presented to the environment minister.

Andy Jones-Dutt, managing director of eco-friendly kitchen company Chamois, discussed the project with Ian Pearson, Minister of State for Climate Change and Environment, at the National Metalforming Centre on February 23.

Under the scheme, old kitchens which would be destined for landfill are crushed and converted into briquettes, which can then be used by any company using a wood firing boiler.

The majority of the kitchens earmarked for the scheme will come from local authority and housing association homes.

Mr Jones-Dutt, who presented Mr Pearson with a briquette at the meeting, came up with the idea as he worked out ways to utilise the scrap kitchens which his fitters removed from houses.

He first fitted his Wolverhampton factory with a Biomass boiler, which burnt the old kitchens in order to generate heat, but quickly realised he had more scrap kitchens than he could use.

Now he wants to use the excess to help other businesses avoid using fossil fuels.

The machine which makes the briquettes will be fitted at Chamois’ Wolverhampton base over the next three months, during which time Mr Jones-Dutt is hoping to set up a core opportunity group with other business leaders to discuss how different firms can benefit from the scheme.

Mr Jones-Dutt said he was delighted to meet the minister.

He said: “This scheme has the potential to benefit firms all over the country and if enough businesses can use the briquettes, it could have a real effect on tackling climate change.

“More businesses need to adopt a joined-up approach in order to work in an environmentally-friendly way. We need to look at ways we can benefit each other and to think creatively in how we use waste.

“This scheme borrows heavily from the principles behind trading carbon credits. The world’s resources are depleting so we need to think carefully about how we can protect them.

“This scheme proves that industrial growth and caring for the environment can go hand in hand.”

Chamois uses recycled wood rather than virgin timber in the production of its kitchens. It uses no packaging, instead wrapping units in reusable blankets ahead of delivery.

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Press release issued: February 16 2007