Just like in many different industries and parts of our lives, technology has come to have an impactful role in how used cooking oil is managed. And while the management and recycling of used cooking oil may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you think of technology serving an essential function, it is true, nonetheless. Technology has helped to automate the management of used cooking oil to a certain degree, making it easier for commercial and industrial kitchens and commercial cooking oil collection companies to oversee the collection of used cooking oil.
Technology, like in many other parts of the commercial and industrial kitchen spaces, has streamlined the management of used cooking oil somewhat, making everything from the collection of used cooking to the pickup of it by a collection company all the easier.
Below, we are going to take a quick look at how technology helps manage used cooking oil and how used cooking oil is recycled.
How Technology Helps Manage Used Cooking Oil
Technology used in the management of commercially used cooking oil collection, disposal, and recycling has helped to improve and streamline the process in a few different ways. These methods include:
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Improving Workplace Safety:
Commercial and industrial kitchens are prone to their fair share of potential accidents, especially because they are often very busy with food preparation and many people working at once. However, technology that helps to collect used cooking oil as it is created in kitchens can help prevent potential spills of used oil.
Grease traps in particular are a great device to have in any commercial or industrial kitchen. Grease traps are a device that keeps fats, oils, and grease from getting into the pipes of a kitchen. They help prevent blockages and clogs in kitchen pipes and the nearby sewer systems.
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Streamlines Used Cooking Oil Collection Process:
Some containers used to collect and store used cooking oil in commercial kitchens are automatic. So instead of staff in kitchens having to move used cooking oil from the kitchen out to the disposal bin or collection container by hand, technology has helped to automate the process fully or partially.
Some used cooking oil containers can be utilized by kitchen staff in a fully automated manner, where there is a direct line between kitchen equipment and the storage container. Other semi-automatic options exist as well, such as allowing staff to use a caddy system or a pump station.
These options for used cooking oil collection in kitchens help to streamline the process for staff and helps ensure that the used cooking oil is in the proper disposal container for when a cooking oil collection company arrives to pick it up for transportation and recycling.
- Assists in Recycling Used Cooking Oil:
When it comes to how used cooking oil is recycled, technology plays a big role in the recycling process. Once used cooking oil is collected by a Columbus commercial cooking oil collection company, the oil is transported to a facility where it will undergo several steps to be recycled.
These steps include the used cooking oil being filtered, refined, and purified through various processes that are often automated with the use of technology. This helps to streamline the recycling process and gives the used cooking oil a second life as something else like biodiesel fuel or animal feed.
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Used Cooking Oil and Grease Theft Prevention:
Used cooking oil is commonly recycled by certified Columbus commercial cooking oil collection companies because of its renewability into other materials, including biodiesel fuel. Unfortunately, thieves are also aware of how used cooking oil can be recycled as well.
Thieves have been known to break into storage containers that commercial and industrial kitchens use to store their used cooking oil in and steal the oil. They take the stolen used cooking oil and sell the oil. In 2019, The Washington Post reported that the National Renderers Association had estimated that about $75 million worth of used cooking grease is stolen annually.
But technology is helping to prevent used cooking oil and grease theft. The go-to theft prevention methods that kitchens and restaurants routinely employ are security cameras and motion sensor lights around the area where their storage containers are stored.
But there are also anti-theft measures that allow only authorized individuals and vehicles to access storage containers.
How Used Cooking Oil is Recycled
Now that you know a little more about how technology is used to help manage used cooking oil, we can briefly go over how used cooking oil is recycled once it has been collected from the storage containers of commercial kitchens.
A Columbus cooking oil collection and recycling company will have a facility where recycling is handled. Once at the facility, the used cooking oil will be rendered and processed to remove any kind of impurities like particles and food scraps. Filtering typically happens through the use of strainers.
After filtration, the now purified used cooking oil will undergo a chemical process called transesterification. This process is used to produce biodiesel from renewable sources like cooking oil. And out of this process, both biodiesel and glycerin are produced. Both of these can be separated and used for different things, including as biodiesel fuel.
About the Author
Green Mountain Products is a Columbus commercial cooking oil collection company. As a 4th generation-owned and operated family business, they are wholly focused on providing each of their customers with custom, effective solutions whether they need used cooking oil collection and oil recycling, among other services. While based in Columbus, Green Mountain Products provides services to several regions, including Central Ohio, West Virginia, Kentucky, and Indiana. Their Columbus commercial cooking collection services are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. They can be reached over the phone at 740-217-8300 or online to learn more.