RESTAURANTS on Liverpool One’s leisure terrace are serving up an eco-treat by donating used cooking fat to power the £1bn centre’s vehicle fleet.

The initiative is part of the shopping centre’s commitment to a sustainable, greener environment within the city centre, and is believed to be the first of its kind by a major retail and leisure development.

A used vegetable oil diesel processor has been bought by the centre to produce a substitute for red diesel. The processor is expected to recycle about 1,700 litres a month and can produce 100 litres a day.

Using biofuels from waste products is increasingly popular in the bid to reduce harmful greenhouse gases.

Liverpool One will join a number of high-profile biodiesel users in the UK, including The British Red Cross, the National Trust and Warrington-based United Utilities.

Head of operations, Ged Glover, said: “At Liverpool One, we are always looking for ways to reduce our carbon footprint.

“We’re really pleased that we are pioneering the use of biofuels – the first to employ this in a leisure and retail complex in the UK.

“With so many restaurants at Liverpool One, it makes sense to turn all that waste oil into something altogether greener.

“This is just one of Liverpool One’s ongoing green plans and we look forward to implementing others in the near future.”