How to Recycle Unwanted Cooking Oil

Posted on 28/10/2020

Ways to Recycle of Cooking Oil

Used cooking oil is common food waste, it is produced in our kitchens, and an average household would consume at least 3-5 litres of oil per month.

Most households throw away the remaining cooking oil into the sewage, and of course that is not a proper way to dispose of it, as it can cause sewer blockages. Also, it costs a lot on the financial side, when it comes to water filtering and treatments.

There are several ways to recycle your cooking oil, instead of pouring it down the drain:

1. Filter and re-use:

If you think the oil is good enough for another use, but it is filled with grilling or cooking remains, you can filter it in a very simple way:

- Get a container (ex: glass bowl), a paper tissue/coffee filter, and a strainer.

- Cover the strainer with the paper tissue, and put it on the glass bowl, then pour the used oil through it and you can repeat this several times, until the oil is fully filtered.

- This operation will filter parts of remaining food in the oil, and you will get your oil filtered and ready for use again.

2. Use an oil filtering product:

Nowadays, there are hundreds of filtering products you can buy from various merchants, do a good research for these products and pick a suitable one based on your needs.

3. Through your recycling service:

Ask your recycling service to dispose of the used oil; they will probably dispose of it for you, or at least they will guide you to the right place for its disposal.

4. Ask a restaurant:

You can ask a local restaurant’s kitchen crew about how they dispose of their own oil, they can either take it from you to handle the operation themselves, or they would guide you to a proper disposal place.

5. Look for oil recycling projects at your community:

There are many of these projects that exist all over communities, they can take your used cooking oil to recycle it, and they would make a good recycled product out of it. Some of these projects use this kind of oil as an alternative resource to generate electricity, or to produce biodiesel products.

6. Farming and composting:

Used cooking oil can be utilized again for farming functions such as feeding animals, or in composting piles. There are many sources that describe these operations all over the internet, although if you have any farms close by you can simply give it to them.

An extra fancy DIY project for you:

Do you like DIY projects? Then we’ve got some presents for you!

- Watch this awesome video of a handmade oil lamp project, made of used cooking oil along with other common materials.

- Another video describes Basic Soap making from Recycled Oil.