Businesses can have a major positive impact on environmental conservation efforts by recycling majority of the waste products their enterprises produce. For instance, those in the food manufacturing sector have the potential of improving their green credibility by simply collecting their used oil, and donating or selling it to an oil recycling centre. From here, the oil can be turned into environmental- friendly and economically beneficial products such as biodiesel, renewable diesel fuel, cosmetics, and animal feeds.
There are many recycling programs around the world that are willing to purchase used cooking oil from local businesses. However, as a business with a steady supply of used cooking oil, you will need to make a few considerations before coming to an agreement with a local recycling program.
These considerations include the following:
- Quantity of oil produced
How much used cooking oil your enterprise is producing will have a huge impact on the service agreement you set up with the recycling company. You should be aware of how much used oil you are producing on a weekly basis. If you are a large institution such as a university, you should be aware of how much each section of the entity is producing on a weekly basis.
This information will guide you on setting up strategic collection points for the oil. This is in a bid to minimize accidents caused by employees moving vast amounts of oil over a long distance to the collection points. Placing these collection points at strategic points can also ensure that normal business is not disrupted during the collection days.
- Consider the size of the oil container
The quantity of oil produced will also have an impact on the size of the container where the oil will be stored awaiting collection. If you produce a lot of oil, then you are going to need a large size container. However, you should also consider how much space in your facility you are willing to use for this container, as some can be quite large.
The rule of thumb is to go for a reasonably sized container that factors in how much oil you produce and can be stored, how much space there is on the floor of your facility, as well as the frequency of oil collection by the service provider. This last factor is important because the more trips the provider makes to your firm to collect the oil, the more costly the agreement will be.
- Frequency of pick-up
Closely related to the size of the oil container is the frequency of oil collection by the vendor. These two aspects are related because the size of the container will determine how many times within a week the vendor will be required to come and empty it. Obviously, a larger container will take more time to fill up, and thus, the frequency of collection will be lower as compared to when you have a small sized container.
Again, choose a reasonably sized container that is adequate for the amount of oil that you produce and also minimizes the number of trips the vendor makes to your facility on a weekly basis.
- Available services
Other than collection for Cooking oil recycling, most of these recycling vendors offer other services that when bundled together can significantly reduce the associated costs of the recycling program. These services include the likes of cleaning, repair, and maintenance of kitchen drains, exhaust hoods, as well as kitchen grease traps. Most of the reputable companies that collect oil for recycling offer these additional services to their customers in order to incentivize them to keep providing the used cooking oil for recycling.
