On the occasion of World Biofuel Day celebrated annually on August 10 in memory of Sir Rudolf Diesel, the inventor of the diesel engine.
The goal is to raise awareness about the significance of non-fossil fuels as a substitute for traditional fossil fuels and to spotlight the government’s various initiatives in the biofuel sector. Used cooking oil is considered among on of the source of non fossil fuel. I want to bring in notice Food Business Operators (FBOs) often use the cooking oil for repeated frying. The consumption of Used Cooking Oil (UCO) leads to adverse health effects since total polar compounds (TPC) are formed during frying.
These compounds are associated with several diseases such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease, liver diseases, etc. UCO is either not discarded at all or disposed of in an environmentally hazardous manner; choking drains and sewerage systems. Also, UCO from organized FBOs reportedly finds its way to small restaurants/dhabas and roadside vendors.
UCO can be repurposed as a feedstock for manufacturing biodiesel or to make soap etc. To harness this potential at scale, FSSAI has launched the Repurpose Used Cooking Oil (RUCO) initiative, an ecosystem to enable the collection and conversion of UCO to biodiesel, soap or other products, which is good for the health of people and the planet. FDA with the help of SDC foundation (empaneled aggregator) sensitised Various FBOs on this initiative and this picture shows our joint efforts.
