Nearly 47 lakh kilograms of
used cooking oil has
been collected from food business operators since August and about 70 per cent
of the quantity has been converted into bio-diesel, according to an industry
body.
The Biodiesel Association of India (BDAI) conducted an interactive workshop
at the National Street Food Festival being held at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium
from December 25-29.
The National Association of Street Vendors of
India (NASVI), along with Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI),
is organising the festival.
BDAI President Sandeep Chaturvedi said the
collection of used cooking oil from food businesses started from August. FSSAI
has set up a web portal RUCO (Repurpose
Used Cooking Oil) for collection of edible oil.
RUCO is a technology platform that gives 100 per
cent traceable UCO-based bio-diesel to the oil marketing companies (OMCs).
The RUCO initiative, which is currently running
in eight states/UTs, has 11 enrolled bio-diesel manufacturers and four
aggregators.
“Total collection recorded till December 24
stood at 46,79,511 Kgs. Around 33,35,469 kgs of bio-diesel have been produced
and balance stock of used cooking oil is 13,44,042 kgs,” Chaturvedi told
reporters.
He said there are about 30 plants for bio-diesel
manufacturing.
Chaturvedi said the OMCs are buying bio-diesel
at Rs 51 per kg and then blending it with diesel.
He said over 1 million tonnes of bio-diesel can
be produced through used cooking oil. The total bio-diesel demand is 45 lakh
tonnes per annum for 5 per cent blending.
The workshop focused on green initiatives to
collect and convert used cooking oil to bio-diesel.
Used cooking oil creates free radicals which
attaches to our healthy cells and thus causes serious ailments like heart
diseases, bad cholesterol, cancer, and irritable throat. The used cooking oil
discharge can also pollute water bodies, freshwater resources and soil. One
litre of used oil can contaminate 10,00,000 litres of fresh water.
“Every used oil collection is recorded and
verified with FSSAI registration number of the food business operator. The
portal reflects the collection quantity in each city in real time. The
aggregated used cooking oil is supplied to the bio-diesel plant who convert it
into bio-diesel and supply to the OMCs. All transactions are verified with the
GST invoice and E-way Bills,” Chaturvedi said.
