In my previous blog post I wrote about using waste vegetable oil as feedstock for biodiesel. In today’s post, I am going to explain why it is environmentally beneficial to utilize waste cooking oil as feedstock in biodiesel. Waste cooking oil is a type of domestic waste which can be generated from cooking and frying food with edible vegetable oil. Waste cooking oil can be classified as frying oil which is used at high temperatures. The production of waste oil has become a subject of importance as with growing populations as it has led to an increased demand of edible oils. Large scale commercial use of cooking oil by the food and beverage organizations such as hotels and restaurants are the biggest contributors of waste cooking oil and thus result in the production of large quantities of waste cooking oil. With no real method of properly disposing of this waste oil, it results in the presence of these substances in the environment.
The reusing of waste oil can mitigate greenhouse gas emissions and also eliminate environmental pollution which can arise from the improper handling of the oil for instance, it being disposed of in a sanitary landfill.
When waste oils enter into the waterways, the oily nature of the substance has been found to coat the layers of fish, birds, plants and other aquatic and marine life while reducing their ability to breathe which henceforth chokes them to death. Even though oil breaks down in water, it uses up vast amounts of oxygen in the process therefore increasing the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD). This is harmful to aquatic organisms, as a lowered oxygen content causes them to go into distress and thereby die as a result.
Waste cooking oil can also cause other municipal waste problems and when it is poured down drains it is responsible for causing,
blockages
bad smell
vermin problems
Furthermore, other than reducing the biological oxygen demand in waterways, when waste cooking oil enters into waterways it can,
cause devastating physical effects, such as coating animals and plants with oil and suffocating them by oxygen depletion
form toxic products
destroy future and existing food supplies and animal habitats
produce rancid odors
foul shorelines, clog water treatment plants, and catch fire when ignition sources are present.
How exactly are countries combatting the issue of dealing with waste cooking oil?
In Trinidad, proper disposal of waste vegetable oil is not a common practice. Most of the oils are gotten rid of through our kitchen sinks. Lack of knowledge in disposal has led to this practice over the years. Proper measures have been recently been implanted by locals to curb in waterway disposal.
One such individual, Troy Hadeed has founded Ecoimpact Co. Ltd which is aimed towards the collection, processing, and recycling of Waste Vegetable Oil which can be re-used in the production of alternative fuels. This organization has begun trading WVO internationally and uses processing systems that allows them to trade ISCC certified (International Sustainability & Carbon Certification) Waste Vegetable Oil on the international market. Its aim is to teach stakeholders on the importance of minimizing their environmental impact and provide them with solutions to do so. The WVO undergoes a process of filtration, settlement and separation. Impurities are then extracted before the final product it is handed over to become alternative fuel.
Ecoimpact has implemented the ECO OIL BIN program which is steered towards the collection of WVO from residential consumers. They are currently located at 4 locations:
Green Market – Santa Cruz
HADCO Limited – Bhagoutie Trace, San Juan
Ecoimpact – Lot 17 DEFG, eTecK Diamond Vale Business Park, Diamond Vale, Diego Martin
Queen’s Park Oval – 94 Tragarete Road, Woodbrook
Seeing the increase in involvement by individuals, it gives a possibility of more persons initiating movements to help with the situation of improper disposal. If the rest of the public picks up on these practices, there can be the total elimination of waste oil disposal in our waterways. This not only improves our water quality but it also protects marine lives.
Thank you for reading today's post, hope you learnt something from it and for those of you from Trinidad and Tobago, I encourage you to utilize the ECO OIL BIN program which would ensure that you dispose of your cooking oil properly.
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