Food & Climate
From churches to trucks, buses, and even soap-making, used cooking oil has become an essential part of business in many areas, and can even reduce costs in some, such as the UAE’s Lulu, which has converted its fleet of vehicles to fuel produced from it.
ٍSome churches in Jefferson County took part in an effort to help recycle more used cooking oil and grease.
The Passionist Communities of Alabama sponsored an Environmental Recycling Sunday, held at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Fairfield and Holy Family Catholic Church in Ensley.
People were able to pick up a jug container to fill with their used cooking oil and grease, then bring those filled containers to recycling drop-off locations throughout the county, according to “WVTM Newsroom”.
While UAE retail giant LuLu now runs delivery fleet with from used cooking oil, Hugo Daniel Chávez, a project manager for the NGO Sustenta Honduras, look at used cooking oil and see a green business opportunity to produce soap or dog food, according to a report seen by “Food & Climate” platform.
LuLu delivery fleet with biodiesel made from used cooking oil
LuLu Group, one of the UAE’s largest retail chains, has begun powering its delivery fleet with biodiesel made from used cooking oil collected across its stores. This move is part of the company’s broader sustainability strategy and supports the UAE’s national vision of net-zero emissions by 2050.
The initiative is the result of a strategic partnership with UAE-based clean energy company Neutral Fuels, which processes the used cooking oil into biodiesel. This low-emission fuel is now powering an increasing share of LuLu’s delivery trucks, directly reducing greenhouse gas emissions on UAE roads.
In a statement, LuLu Group said, “This proves that practical, everyday actions can lead to measurable environmental benefits without compromising efficiency or service.”
Lower Carbon Emissions: Because the oil originates from plants, its carbon output is largely offset by the carbon those plants absorbed, contributing to a near carbon-neutral cycle.
Less Air Pollution: It significantly reduces sulfur oxides, carbon monoxide, and particulate matter—key urban pollutants.
Waste Management: It repurposes a major waste stream that would otherwise contaminate water or soil.
Beyond the environmental benefits, the program has economic implications. By building a biodiesel supply chain, collection, cleaning, processing, and distribution, LuLu helps generate local green jobs. It also reduces reliance on fossil fuels, contributing to the UAE’s energy security.
However, the path hasn’t been without hurdles:
Supply Volume Constraints: Collecting enough used oil consistently is a logistical challenge.
Infrastructure: Expanding processing capabilities requires investment.
Vehicle Compatibility: Not all engines are optimized for high biodiesel blends.
LuLu is addressing these issues by investing in research, building strategic partnerships, and ensuring quality standards are rigorously met before the fuel is used.
Soap and dog food
Few 27-year-olds look at used cooking oil and see a green business opportunity to produce soap or dog food.
But that is what Hugo Daniel Chávez, a project manager for the NGO Sustenta Honduras, has done.
“We have so many businesses and domestic practices that create waste, so we are trying to transform waste and give it a second life,” he tells the BBC.
Across Latin America, several million tonnes of cooking oil are consumed every year. It is often used to fry food, mostly chicken, plantain strips, chips and pork.
But reusing and heating it too often – as is often the case in Honduras, where there is a huge black market for used cooking oil – can create compounds which are bad for consumers’ health.
Improperly discarded, it can also have a massive detrimental impact on the environment.
If it is drained down the sink, it can damage pipes and contaminate groundwater, and when it is tossed by the side of the road, it can contaminate freshwater and crops many communities rely on.
Faced with these health and environmental hazards, the young green entrepreneurs behind Sustenta tried to come up with a solution which would not only give businesses an incentive to dispose of their oil and grease properly, but also turn these waste products into something useful.
The NGO’s executive director, Ricardo Pineda, explains that their idea originated from earlier efforts by different companies and organisations to transform used cooking oil into biodiesel. “But in Honduras, we don’t have a market for biodiesel,” he says.
“So, we decided to produce products that can do well in our domestic markets [such as soap and dog food].”
In order to make it more attractive to people to get rid of the oil legally rather than sell it to unscrupulous buyers, Sustenta offers to buy the used cooking oil and pick it up regularly from the shops that participate in their project.
Their efforts have gained international recognition, most notably when they were awarded a $20,000-prize as one of the winners of the 2023 Youth4Climate Energy Challenge, a global initiative co-led by the Italian government and the United Nations Development Programme.
“It [their project] not only contributes to lessening the environmental impact through an emphasis on creating a circular economy, but also empowers young people and women – the groups most affected by climate change – and generates green jobs”.