Used Cooking Oil

In opposition to the freedom oil that keeps the world's machines spinning, this week we’re going to talk about the one that keeps our stomachs yearning. As we know, cooking oil is a plant, animal, or synthetic liquid fat that we use in the process of frying and baking our daily meals. It’s hard to live without it if you’re not following a specific diet, so it’s safe to say that, unfortunately, since we’re not at that point yet it’s one of the most used tools when it comes to meal prepping, in the majority of homes around the world.

Now, once again we’re talking about a small action performed by millions of people. That will always generate a huge impact, regardless of what it is. In this case, by adding the restaurant and food service industry, we find ourselves in a non-edible pickle. “Why is that?”, you might be asking in a perfect, calculated manner. I’ll tell you why.

Environmental Risks

After the cooking is done, even if the oil has been used for a few days, most people tend to pour it down the kitchen drain. In the long run, this creates a series of problems for our urban structures and, most importantly, for the environment:

• The fats, oil, and grease solidify and will cause sewer blockage that can lead to untreated wastewater, requiring high costs for cleanup and restoration. Communities and businesses are spending billions of dollars every year to repair structural damage, also known as the symptom when they could be investing on the root of the problem/environmental friendly methods that would end up saving some money;

• There’s a risk of manholes overflowing into urban areas, contaminating local waters, storm drains, and parks, contaminating everything, including our drinking water;

• Not so fun fact: we can pollute almost half of the water in an Olympic swimming pool (1 million liters), with just 1 liter of used cooking oil. That’s why oil causes nearly a quarter of all pollution incidents.

What to do with it?

I am glad to announce that it is possible to recycle cooking oil. Not directly, but through local recycling plants that focus on this matter by recycling and converting it into other forms of oil products. It can even be refined into biofuel that burns clean in most diesel engines, which may represent a reduction of up to 80% in carbon emissions in comparison with conventional diesel!

There are other ways of repurposing the oil we used too if there are no local businesses around you to take it off your hands, but that is something we will tackle soon due to our variety of options!

Stay tuned and we will see you next week!