What to do with our used food oils? Pouring them into the sink is forbidden, they do not go into the bin either ... Fortunately, collection and recovery solutions now exist in France. And the oil becomes fuel!
Frying oil, preservation oil such as sardines and feta, or cooking oil: since 2012, the Environmental Code prohibits the disposal of used cooking oil in the sink or in the trash.
Why ? Because they are the cause of major malfunctions: they can block the pipes, prevent the proper functioning of the treatment plants, pollute the groundwater or foul incineration incineration garbage ...
From professionals to communities to individuals, it is estimated that 100,000 tons of used cooking oil each year could be collected. And there are solutions to value these oils, especially in biofuel.
Collect before recycling
In recent years, many companies have specialized in the collection and sometimes the recovery of these used food oils. Because for restaurateurs and other agro-food industries, the first problem that arises is that of logistics: what to do with these oils?
Tanks can thus recover oils locally, or dedicated containers are placed in storage and are regularly raised, as proposed by the large groups Suez and Veolia, but also regional SMEs.
For individuals, terminals have been set up to collect these very specific products. Otherwise, it is always possible to deposit them in a dump where they will be reprocessed or incinerated. But the movement is still in its infancy since only 5% of used oils are recycled!
From frying to the car
What happens to the collected oils? They are filtered and refined to become a biofuel or used in chemistry. The interest of used oils for the production of biofuels is twofold: to offer an alternative to petroleum products, but also to limit the use of natural resources.
The biofuels market is booming: agricultural machinery, public transport and even planes. Biorefineries have been created to meet the demand. France supplies 5% of the world's biofuel production, ranking fourth behind the United States, Brazil and Germany.