Restaurants and consumers alike are working to reduce the amount of food that ends up in landfills, something biodiesel has been winning at for decades.

The USDA, FDA and EPA recently announced April as “Winning on Reducing Food Waste Month” and the National Biodiesel Board sees biodiesel as an active player in reduction.

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“Recycling cooking oil for biodiesel production is a great step for any restaurant looking to reduce their food waste,” says Don Scott, director of sustainability for the National Biodiesel Board. “The oil is collected and refined into renewable energy instead of being sent to landfills or being poured down the drain.” 

NBB estimates that nearly 2 billion pounds of used cooking oil is diverted from landfills each year. Thanks to robust recycling programs throughout the country, the volume from these programs continues to grow, making recycled cooking oil the second largest oil source for biodiesel.

Related: Agencies collaborate to reduce food waste

“When biodiesel first came on the scene, it was common practice for restaurants to pay to have their grease hauled away,” adds Scott. “Today, it’s pretty standard for companies to have the used oil removed at no cost to them due to its value in renewable energy.”

In addition to used cooking oil, biodiesel uses by-products of animal production – animal fats – as a raw material source. In fact, nearly 1.3 billion pounds of animal fats go into biodiesel fuel today.

The rendering process captures that raw material. Without rendering, recycled cooking oil nor animal fats would be available for biodiesel production.

“If you think about it, Renderers are the original recyclers of food waste,” says Nancy Foster, President of the National Renderers Association. “Americans only eat about 50% of an animal, and we’ve been reclaiming those unused proteins, fats and oils for a broad spectrum of uses for a very long time. The rendering industry has an important sustainability story to tell and we are happy to see this focus on reducing food waste continuing to gain traction.”

“Biodiesel’s ability to use these fats and oils and turn them into renewable fuel is what makes biodiesel such an active player in reducing food waste,” adds Scott. “We’ve been reducing food waste for more than two decades and we’ve only just started.”

Source: National Biodiesel Board, which is solely responsible for the information provided and is wholly owned by the source. Informa Business Media and all its subsidiaries are not responsible for any of the content contained in this information asset.