From Fry Pan to Fuel Tank: St. Cloud Pilot Project Aims to Repurpose Cooking Oil

(KNSI) — A pioneering pilot project launches today in St. Cloud that will turn used cooking oil into green energy.

Residents can drop off fats, grease, and oil at city hall, the public works facility, the wastewater treatment facility, or the city compost site. Unlike with compost, a permit is not needed if dropping off there.

They must be delivered in disposable containers with a lid or other means of sealing the openings. Shatterproof containers are recommended.

The recycling program gives residents a sustainable way to dispose of used cooking oils and grease besides the landfills or sewers, which city officials say causes blockages and backups as the materials cool and solidify in pipes. Through the recycling program, fats and oils will instead be recovered and used in the wastewater treatment facility’s digesters to produce renewable biogas. That is then used in the biofuel generators to power the facility.

Accepted fats and oils are:

Bacon grease
Canola oil
Coconut oil
Corn oil
Flaxseed oil
Fry oil
Hamburger grease
Lard
Olive oil
Peanut oil
Sesame oil
Shortening
Sunflower oil
Vegetable oil

No motor oils, automotive oils or any petroleum-based oils are accepted. Motor oil can be disposed of at the Household Hazardous Waste Facility or East Side Oil in St. Cloud.

Learn more here.

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