The processing of used cooking oil into biofuel at the Bio Diesel Fuel Plant (BDFP) in the city has proven to be sustainable since its launching about three months ago.
“The BDFP has been processing 1,000 Liters of used cooking oil into biodiesel fuel on a daily basis,” said Dolly Remojo, supervising environmental management specialist of the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO).
The BDFP, located at the CENRO composting facility in Maa , formally started processing of used cooking oil into bio diesel fuel last August.
The main reason for putting up the BDFP is to discourage establishments such as those in the fast food industry, from reusing or selling their used cooking oil. The indiscriminate disposal of cooking oil has also been identified as one of the factors for clogged drainage and canal systems in the city.
“We have not really monitored whether or not people have stopped throwing their used cooking oil in the canals but we have noticed an improvement in some of these canals which used to be polluted with used cooking oil,” Remojo said.
Remojo said they are able to collect up to 1,000 liters of used cooking oil from their partners every day. Only 90 percent of the used cooking oil are converted into bio diesel fuel while the remaining 10 percent is used for CENRO’s composting.
She said the machine is capable of processing only 1,000 liters of used cooking oil per shift. While it is possible to operate the machine for two shifts daily, they decided to operate on single shift only to avoid straining the machine.
The city government has partnered with 45 establishments and four barangays from where they collect the used cooking oil daily. Among the barangays that have continued their contribution to the project are barangays Mintal, Sasa, and Hizon.
The processed bio-diesel fuel is used by CENRO for its garbage trucks and a small backhoe. CIO
