Food outlets and food factories are utilizing large amounts of frying oil, then disposing it in the sewage system creating a severe impact on underground water and biodiversity.
Other people are mixing frying oil with used motor oil to be utilized for heating creating toxic emissions. In addition, some of the used cooking oil is being re-filtered and sold as brand new. Another part of these wastes is mixed with poultry feed as nutritional supplements. All these applications impose a real threat on public health and environment as well.
Moreover, some people are making low quality soap out of the used oil that is creating many allergies and skin problems.
Our idea is to collect used frying oil from the specified sources in a facility where "bio-diesel" will be produced as well as liquid soap.
The produced bio-diesel will be made available to the Lebanese public. It can be utilized in the same way as the common diesel and will deliver the same heating effect while being less toxic and less polluting.
To realize our idea, used oil from restaurants chains, hotels, fast food outlets, food products factories and other sources should be collected. Storage and processing will be conducted in an equipped facility where bio-diesel will be produced.
Currently, CDP has established a small plant to produce high quality biodiesel by gathering used cooking oil from around 150 hotels and restaurants.
This integrated solution seeks an alternative to diesel, bio-diesel, produced from hazardous wastes. To make it available, several environmental problems are solved, partially, as well. These problems are:
(1) cutting trees for heating, (2) used frying oil is contaminating the underground water and threatening the biodiversity in the vicinity of the wastewater systems, (3) producing highly toxic emissions due to burning a mixture of used frying and motor oils for heating, (4) creating health hazards generated from other current applications of the used oil, and (5) decreasing 80% of the emissions of diesel if the same quantities of bio-diesel is utilized instead.
