Used Cooking Oil Recycling Services

Did you know... all of the cooking oils used in the MTS Centre are collected and recycled into biodiesel and sold in rural Manitoba (MTS Centre website, 2015).

Minimum Sustainable Recommendations

When developing a bid document for cooking oil recycling services, request the following:

• The vendor that accepts used cooking oil for recycling must adhere to the following:
  • The Vendor must recycle the collected used oil (e.g. agricultural feed and/or biodiesel production).
  • The Vendor should provide monetary incentives for the collected cooking oil and provide detailed statements outlining the volume of oil collected and price rates (e.g. $/tonne).
  • The Vendor must provide appropriately sized used oil collection containers to accommodate the storage location, the volume of oil generated. The container must also be appropriately sized to reduce the frequency of pick-ups, costs and the greenhouse gas emissions associated with the transportation of oil to the recycling facility.
• The vendor transporting used cooking oil to the recycling facility must adhere to the following:
  • Develop strategies to minimize greenhouse gas emissions such as:
    • Product delivery consolidations
    • Efficient transportation logistics
    • No idling of vehicles
    • Use of fuel efficient delivery vehicles
  • The intent of the carbon tax is to enhance fuel use efficiency and transition to a low carbon economy. Our organization requires transparency and prefers to compensate for carbon based on fuel usage for the service and the current carbon tax rate.
    • On invoices and bills, any charge attributed to the carbon tax must be presented as a separate line item.  The service provider must provide their methodology for calculating the carbon tax surcharge.
  • Both owner-drivers and sub-contractors who undertake services on behalf of the tendering company must adhere to the requirements noted above.

Other Things to Consider

To reduce the use of cooking oil, explore opportunities to install efficient oil filtration systems for deep fryers. Oil filtration systems can help keep the cooking oil clean longer, which reduces costs associated with purchasing cooking oil and recycling the cooking oil.

The Manitoba Climate and Green Plan Act supports reducing greenhouse gas emissions and reducing environmental impacts through improved waste diversion

What are the issues?

Restaurants and cafeterias generate a significant amount of waste cooking oil. Municipalities have by-laws to prevent greases and oils from entering and clogging sewage pipes. If cooking oil enters the wastewater system, additional energy and treatment is required to break down the material at the treatment facility. In Winnipeg, all commercial kitchens and restaurants are required to have grease traps to prevent oils from entering the sewer system.

Some organizations are placing their collected cooking oil in the landfill when in fact, it should be recycled.  If cooking oil is placed in the landfill, the oil will break down and produce methane gas, a greenhouse gas that has twenty-one times the global warming potential of carbon dioxide.

What are the options?

A number of products can be generated from used cooking oil, including agricultural feed and biodiesel.  Agricultural feed derived from biodiesel can be a cost-effective way of feeding farm animals and biodiesel is an alternative fuel source which can be used for power generation, transportation and heating.

Since cooking oil is valuable commodity, cooking oil recycling services are widely available in many regions. Oil recyclers often provide monetary incentives to businesses for the oil collected.

Last Updated: May 2019

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