WNC RECYCLING PROGRAM TURNS HOUSEHOLD COOKING OIL INTO LOCAL FUEL

Asheville, NC (01/26/12) – A pilot program between the Metropolitan Sewerage District (MSD) of Buncombe County, Green Opportunities (GO), and Blue Ridge Biofuels provides county residents cleaner living, thousands of dollars in savings in municipal maintenance, and greater control over their local fuel economy.

More Information

The Cooking Oil Recycling (COR) Program began in September 2011 as a free and healthy service for collecting cooking oil from Buncombe County residents for manufacturing biodiesel. By this summer, the program will have 35 custom-made bins placed throughout Buncombe County devoted to collecting oil from the county’s 230,000 residents, making the COR Program the largest oil recycling program in Western North Carolina.

“We hope someday soon the cost of wind, solar, and geothermal energy will fall enough to compete with coal, petroleum, and natural gas,” says Melita Kyriakou, Business Administrator at Blue Ridge Biofuels. “For now, biodiesel is the only advanced biofuel in the United States and is a drop-in replacement for petroleum diesel, working seamlessly with our country’s existing fueling infrastructure.”

In recent years, MSD has spent an estimated $200,000 yearly on sanitary sewer overflows from used cooking oil poured down the drain. MSD received funding from the Biofuels Center of NC in 2011 to combat this issue, enlisting Blue Ridge Biofuels to orchestrate an environmentally-friendly method for collecting and processing the used cooking oil into biodiesel. A pblic education and outreach campaign has been launch in collaboration wiht GO, and Blue Ridge Biofuels began employing an additional driver in October to collect the extra supply of feedstock.

So far, the program has collected 230 gallons of used cooking oil, and estimates collecting 1,000 monthly gallons once all 35 bins are placed. Questions and requests for where to place a bin can be submitted on www.CookingOilRecycling.org or posted on our Facebook page at Facebook.com/CookingOilRecycling.

Core Facts

The COR Program accepts every form of used animal and vegetable cooking oil. We do ask that you limit the amount of animal grease deposited, since it will thicken and make collection more difficult.
To recycle your cooking oil, participants are asked to follow these instructions: 1. Let your oil cool. 2. Pour oil into a recyclable container (the one the oil came in works great!) 3. Pour oil into a recycling bin 4. Reuse your recyclable container for additional oil
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates that an average of 66 gallons of used cooking oil is produced per person in North Carolina each year.
The Cooking Oil Recycling Program is a component of how western North Carolina is participating in the state’s goal of 10% domestic biofuel production in North Carolina by 2017.