Visakhapatnam: Used cooking oil is a good raw material for biodiesel. But there is no initiative being taken to set up collection points where hotels or households can sell the used oils. One could get up to Rs 20 per litre of used cooking oil. Experts purchasing raw material for biodiesel are of the view that biodiesel reprocessed from used oil is not only good for the environment, but a scope for selling the used oil would check the health risks arising for using cooking oil many a time.
Studies published in International Science Journals claim that cooking oils release harmful chemicals even carcinogens when used for deep fry or reused. The chemicals also could cause headaches, fatigue, and even dementia. When asked if they are buying used oil from the local market, the owners of biodiesel manufacturing units based in Visakhapatnam told they were importing used cooking oil from Gulf countries.
“We are procuring by-product of oil refineries like fatty acids for biodiesel as used oil could not be found in large quantity. We have to process tonnes of used oil and it is not possible with small quantity for say with 200 litres. Cooking oil used for two times could be purchased and based on quality we can give up to Rs 20 per litre. Restaurants or households should not reuse the oils till the last drop gets over as it could lead to health risks,” said Mr Chary of Biomaxfuels who deals with the purchase of raw material. The biodiesel manufacturing units urge the star hotels should take initiative in this connection making an agreement with them to sell out the used oils.
