Council plan looks to go from dim sims to diesel

Cooking oil collected from Chinatown’s deep fryers could soon grease the wheels of the City of Melbourne car fleet, under a plan by one councilor to reduce Yarra River pollution and cut carbon emissions. Cr Cathy Oke wants the council to co-ordinate a program that would collect used restaurant cooking oil and turn it into biodiesel. Cr Oke said the council, Melbourne Water and the Environment Protection Authority had developed an education plan for Chinatown that included ways to reduce oil use and stop oil being poured into drains. On a recent council trip to North America, Cr Oke met organizers of San Francisco’s oil recycling program, Greasecycle, and believes a similar program would work in Melbourne. Biomax, part of the Victor Smorgon Group, already privately collects used cooking oil from restaurants in Victoria and converts it to biodiesel, some of which is sold through petrol stations and some directly to councils. Smorgon Fuels managing director Mile Soda said a City of Melbourne oil recycling program was possible, if the council was enthusiastic enough. “There’s a lot of economic benefit of taking a liter of used oil and making it fuel,” Soda said. (July 2, 2009)