Where is the "gutter oil" in Britain?

In Britain, whether at home or in restaurants, a large number of fried foods have become a delicacy on the table, but this dietary habit has also resulted in a large amount of waste oil. Although there has been no refining of waste oils into edible oils in the UK, these oils are often the culprits of sewer blockages.

How to deal with waste oil has become an important issue for the British government. Nowadays, in Britain, people can always see a bottle of used cooking oil poured into the trash bin of recycling center. This action is the British government's plan of recycling waste cooking oil. Since 2004, the British Ministry of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has stipulated that cooking waste oil from catering industry is no longer used as animal feed and that anyone who feeds animals with cooking waste oil from restaurants will be considered illegal. Food and beverage waste oil must be collected by officially recognized companies, and the government has the right to supervise food and beverage enterprises to deal with waste oil.

Most residential areas in Britain have a waste oil collection bucket. London Municipal Environmental Affairs Officer ElBaradei said such a huge trash can hold 1,000 litres of oil. There is a filter over the trash can to prevent residents from pouring food residues, especially meat fat residues, into the trash can. The grease should be packed in yogurt bottles or sealed containers.

At the waste oil recycling center, London resident Allen told reporters: "I used to put waste oil into the trash can and throw it out, but sometimes the oil spills out. Now, I will put waste oil in plastic oil bottles and pour it here regularly.

In northern Scotland, the latest statistics from Scottish Water, the largest water company in the country, show that about 55% of pipe blockages are caused by oil. For this reason, the local environmental protection bureau stipulates that there are three ways to treat domestic cooking waste oil: the first is to scrape excess oil from pots and plates and mix it with the residue; the second is to wash it in soapy water and discharge it into sewage; and the third is to separate the solidified oil for feeding birds. At present, there are three ways to treat commercial or industrial waste oil: pouring oil and grease from pots or other containers into deoilers; collecting by government-approved companies; and pouring waste oil into designated government locations. No amount of waste oil, grease and fat is allowed to be poured into the tank.

According to an earlier survey by The Times, the amount of waste cooking oil produced by the British catering industry is as high as 50.9 million litres per year. Vivian, manager of a restaurant in London's West End, said local water companies often go to restaurants for inspection. If the inspection finds that there is greasy dirt in the sewer and there is a blockage, besides cleaning the sewer at your own expense, you should also pay a fine or even take a lawsuit.

At present, the UK government, in cooperation with the biofuel system, provides the waste oil purchased by recycling companies to biodiesel producers, and converts the recycled edible waste oil into biofuels or pours it into incinerators for power generation. It not only avoids the reuse of waste oil by catering industry, but also protects the natural environment. At present, with the soaring price of oil, more and more household cars use recycled waste oil as fuel, and some fast food chains in Britain use recycled biofuels for delivery trucks.