Why We Do It

Why Should You Recycle Cooking Oil?

Cooking oil is an often underutilized resource when it reaches the end of its life. After oil is used for cooking, it is often disposed of instead of being reused. Restaurants should establish sustainable and effective oil recycling plans for a variety of reasons, including:

Preserving Facilities and Appliances
When disposed of improperly, cooking oil and grease can cause costly damage to drains and kitchen appliances. While it may look like liquid going down the drain, oil will later harden, causing a blockage in your individual or local drainage system. Plus, improper oil waste handling can often go against regulatory guidelines—potentially landing you or your business in legal trouble.
Protecting Global and Local Environments
Recycling oil and grease properly ensures these waste products are staying out of the environment, reducing the risk of harming natural resources like soil and water systems. According to Environment Canada, “spills of animal fats and vegetable oils have the same or similar devastating impacts on the aquatic environment as petroleum oils.” Opting into oil waste recycling also means you are supporting renewable and green fuel efforts, showing dedication to sustainable systems as a whole.
Reducing Health Risks
If disposed of haphazardly, cooking oils can create health problems for your customers or the community. Trapped oil, grease, and fats create hazardous fumes, and the sewage issues caused by drain-blocking oils are shown to carry dangerous bacteria and pathogens.
Recycling Cooking Oil at Home
While EcoZero’s used cooking oil (UCO) recycling program caters to restaurants and other commercial businesses, oil is an inevitable part of home cooking. Common household oils include plant-based varieties like vegetable, canola, corn, sesame, and olive oils. There are also animal-based products and fats such as lard, butter, or bacon fat. Dumping any of these oils down your kitchen drain can mean disaster for your plumbing system, which is why we’ve partnered with local cities and municipalities to establish local drop-off stations for convenient disposal.
Recycle
While oil recycling services are often scarce in residential areas, our partner communities are offering oil recycling centers or designated drop stations for households to recycle their oil. UCO can be recycled into products like biodiesel, which can fuel diesel engines. If you have no options to recycle your home cooking oil, it’s important to remember not to pour it down the drain. If you have to throw UCO away, do so inside of a sealed container like a spare bottle.
Oil and Grease Recycling Solutions
Whether at home or in your business, it’s important to remember that used cooking oil (UCO) isn’t a waste—it’s a highly valuable resource. EcoZero’s used cooking oil and grease trap services allow customers to turn their waste into renewable energy. That’s right, by working with us you can contribute to environmental sustainability! We believe humans can successfully reduce their impact by using less, reusing and recycling more, and constantly making small improvements through their daily decisions at home, while shopping, at work, and at play. More ideas make less waste.
What We Believe
Wasting less is a journey and we’re glad you’re along for the ride. Education, community, and taking action are vital to creating the real change we are striving for. By making thousands of individual small changes, we will create a large, positive impact on our community and the world we live in. We believe that our voices will be heard and our actions will make a positive difference.
There's a Better Way
Used cooking oil is a by-product of running a busy restaurant and something most kitchen operators don’t have extra time to think about. The way you handle your used cooking oil can affect your business’ internal operations and shape how customers see your impact on the environment. Reliable, end-to-end services not only makes used cooking oil recycling and collection a nonissue, but you can also let your customers know that you are contributing to a greener tomorrow. We preserve and care for the Earth's natural resources while working to build sustainable communities.
Recycling Used Cooking Oil for Commercial Businesses
From French fries to fried chicken, the deep fryer is an important part of many American kitchens. Once the useful life of the oil for frying is over, the used cooking oil can be a resource, or it can be a hazard. Pouring oil down the sink can cause major structural damage, and throwing liquid waste into the trash is far from ideal. So, what is the best way to dispose of used cooking oil (UCO), and how can restaurants opt for the most environmentally—and economically—sound method of recycling this inevitable byproduct? Join EcoZero in the pursuit of making the world a greener place for future generations.

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