Used Cooking Oil is Stolen from Restaurants for Making Biodiesel - 6/11/08

Cooking oil theft is becoming a problem.  Nick Damianidis, owner of Olympia Pizza and Pasta Restaurant in Arlington, said the barrel had been hit seven times since last summer by siphoners who slip in at night to steal the used vegetable oil.

Damianidis said, just over a year ago he had to pay someone to take way his used oil now it has become like gold.

Used cooking oil is no longer trash.  The grease was trading at 7.6 cents per pound in 2000 and is recently trading at 33 cents per pound on the commodities market.  Biodiesel is made from new or used vegetable oil or animal fat mixed with lye and methanol.  Anyone with a conversion kit can turn once worthless used vegetable oil into very valuable biodiesel.

Aaron Kahn of Northwest Biodiesel Network said he does not understand why home brewers of biodiesel would steal waste oil.   All home brewers can collect the used oil from local restaurant owners for free.  Until recently the restaurant owners had to pay someone to collect the grease. 

Oil from restaurants which do a high volume of frying of one type food like fried chicken is the best oil to collect because of its purity.  Fast food restaurants typically produce 150 to 200 pounds of used grease a week. 

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