Used cooking oil recycling

Used cooking oil is the best possible feedstock for biodiesel production

Whilst you can make biodiesel from many different crops, this places a burden on land needed to grow food and could contribute to deforestation and threaten biodiversity.

Creating biodiesel from something that would otherwise go to waste, makes it one of the greenest possible alternatives to fossil fuels. Used cooking oils (UCO) and fats are the ideal feedstock to refine into biodiesel. And, because they cannot be recycled into either the human or the animal food supply chains, due to the food safety risks they pose, this is by far the most sustainable way to dispose of them.

We are the UK’s leading refiner of used cooking oil and we use it to create biodiesel of the very highest standard. Our biodiesel is ISCC (International Sustainability and Carbon Certification) compliant and exceeds the EN14214 EU specification required for it to be used as the proportion legally required to be blended into diesel fuel sold in the garage forecourts of UK and EU countries. As a result, our biodiesel can also be used in 100% concentrations in adapted vehicles. This has the effect of reducing carbon emissions by 89% compared to fossil diesel.

Turning waste into wonder fuel

Once your used cooking oil arrives at one of our processing sites, any food fragments or particles are removed along with any water contained in the oil. Both the food particles and water removed during processing are then used in our anaerobic digestion plant, so nothing is wasted. As part of this process, the used cooking oil we collect is tested and analysed to assess its quality and value.

This information is used to inform our reports to you about your sustainability and accurately establish any rebate due to you. For customers using both our supply and collections services, we can help advise if you are over or under-using your cooking oil and alert you to any theft problems.

The processed used oil is then taken to our state-of-the-art biorefinery. This is the largest facility of its kind in the UK solely devoted to processing used cooking oil and is one of the most advanced in the world.

As your cooking oil passes through, it goes through a series of refinement, reaction and separation processes which convert it into biodiesel. The process is carefully monitored at every stage to ensure that the output will exceed the stringent requirements required by regulators and produces a clean, clear, low-odour biodiesel. This is particularly important in a world where most diesel engines and ignition systems have been technically refined to deliver extremely high levels of performance and efficiency.

Infographic showing the process of recycling used cooking oil

Our biorefinery operates to the very highest environmental standards. The biodiesel it produces is made even more sustainable because the refinery has an integral anaerobic digestion plant that generates the heat and power required to run it. Both are fed from different wastes collected from our customers which effectively creates a closed loop recycling process for those customers who provide us with used cooking oil and purchase the resulting biodiesel.

The facility can create enough renewable biodiesel to fuel 1,632 HGVs or 57,000 cars every year.

I am really proud of the work our team has done to more than double the capacity of our state-of-the-art biodiesel plant in Liverpool. This plant expansion, alongside our newly acquired terminal and bulk liquids storage, means we are processing more used cooking oil than ever before, and have greater flexibility to process and move material internationally.

Harry Miller Plant Superintendent

Using your cooking oil to transform the planet

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less GHG

The exceptional quality of our biodiesel means it can be used to completely replace fossil-derived diesel. This gives an 88% reduction in greenhouse gases.

million litres

Is how much used cooking oil the Government estimates we produce every year in the UK. That’s enough to fuel 330,000 average-sized cars.

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more economic

Making biodiesel from UCO is 46% more economic than making it from virgin crops.

Turning used cooking oil into a circular economy success story

Olleco has developed a strong working partnership with McDonald’s UK and their logistics partner Martin Brower. By collecting the used cooking oil from their restaurants and processing it into high quality biodiesel, we have enabled them to reduce the carbon impact of their UK supply chain by tens of thousands of tonnes of CO₂e annually. This circular economy solution has helped drive a huge environmental marketing drive for the international restaurant chain which is featured on the vehicles delivering their food supplies throughout the UK.

To give your used cooking oil and the planet a better future, get in touch.

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