5 Ways to Recycle Used Cooking Oil for a Greener Future

Recycling used cooking oil has many benefits, not only to the food establishments that generate the oil, but to the world as a whole.

Every time a gallon of used cooking oil is repurposed, it means there is less waste going to the landfills. It also means that there is less risk of contaminating the water sources, and the environment as a whole.

And the best news is that when you are the one who is generating the used oil, it will be recycled at no cost to you, and in fact, you will be paid for the oil.

All that you are required to do is pour the hot cooking oil from the fryers into the containers provided by the recycling company. Later, the recycling company comes to collect the oil with empty containers to leave with you.

From a hygiene and public health point of view, this is the best way to handle old cooking oil. It is hygienic, so it will not attract bugs and rodents.

The used cooking oil that you generate is going to be recycled in these five ways:

1. It is recycled to bio-diesel

Recycling used cooking oil for the environment cannot get any better than recycling it to bio-diesel. Imagine being able to contribute a fuel that has 85 percent less carbon emissions when used in different applications. This can be the best gift that you could ever give the world.

The bio-diesel that is recycled from the old cooking oil can be put to various applications. Mostly, it is used to power heavy farm machinery. However, you can also use it in any diesel engine without having to modify the nozzles or anything.

The bottom line is… when the used oil from your fryers is recycled into bio-diesel, you will have made a big contribution towards making the world a better place, by safeguarding the ozone layer.

When the oil is collected from your facility, it is taken to the recycling plant. Therefore, all the food particles are removed, and the oil is stripped down to its finest form.

The right preservatives are added to convert it to biofuel. It burns fully and in a much better way, so there is less smoke from the machinery that use it.

The big picture is: the more biofuel there is, the less drilling the world will need, for the depletable fossil fuels.

2. Furniture cleaning and maintenance

You can only use a small amount of used cooking oil from your kitchen to clean your furniture. However, this is still a great way for homeowners to limit the amount of old oil that goes to the landfills.

If you have leather-holstered furniture, well, you can coat it with used cooking oil. However, make sure that you use vegetable cooking oil for this.

Naturally, leather has its own natural oil that keeps it moisturized. But with exposure to different temperatures, the natural moisturization starts to dry up, and the leather starts to crack.

Now, you can prevent that by using the old cooking oil from your kitchen to preserve the leather. Just make sure you apply a little amount so that the leather can absorb the oil fully.

3. Composting small amount of the oil

One of the most popular questions on the web is: can cooking oil be composted? And the answer is yes. Cooking oil does tend to disintegrate very well into the soil. However, you should only compost it bit by bit, in small quantities.

Adding too much of it to the compost will lead to the slowing down of the entire composting process. Besides, when added in large quantity, the oil will tend to clump up when the temperatures get lower. This would further hinder the composting process.

Air movement in the compost is very important. This is why you cannot add oil in amounts that will cause everything to stick together. You could ask the recycling company like Grand Natural for ideas on how much oil to add to the compost.

4. Used cooking oil is a good lubricant

Again, this use of old cooking oil is only good for homeowners that generate a little amount of oil. After all, just how many times do you oil the door hinges in a year?

But it is still a good way to make use of the old oil instead of letting it go to waste, or instead of washing it down the kitchen drain where it will go to clog the plumbing and the sewer systems.

Do not use cooling oil as a lubricant for vehicles and other machinery because it would not be worth it. You can use it for things like door hinges, locks that have trouble opening, toys with moving parts and so on.

You could also apply the oil on metal parts of things that you do not want to develop rust.

5. Use the oil as an additive to pet food

The freshly used cooking oil can also be a good additive to pet food. Adding a few drops of the oil in your cat or dog food can whip up their appetite fast. If you had used the oil to fry fish, chicken or other meats, your pets will love it.

The oil is not only an appetite booster, but it also improves the fur coat on your animals, giving it a nice healthy sheen. 

If the oil is too old, or it was poorly preserved after being used, do not add it to your animal feed. It could have attracted bacteria, which could harm your animals.

Again, just because your animals seem to enjoy eating food sprinkled with the old cooking oil, don’t be tempted to use too much of it. Just a little at every feeding time should do, and mix it well with the food.

Conclusion

Whether you are a restaurant owner with fryers that generate tens of gallons of used cooking oil every day, or just a homeowner with a regular kitchen, save the cooking oil. Recycle it and do the world one good turn.

Avoid washing the oil down the kitchen sink. It is only going to clog up your plumbing system and even if it doesn’t, it will certainly clog the municipal sewerage system.

No old cooking oil is too little to be ignored. Imagine how much good we could all do to the environment if we played our little roles in recycling.