Recycling Used Cooking Oil into Biodiesel – Indonesia

This activity substitutes conventional diesel fuel with biodiesel on the island of Bali. This process, underused in developing countries, brings social business, environmental activism, and health measures together in a private initiative. Since waste oil is typically poorly disposed of or reused with little controls, this project mitigates climate change and improves the environment, while boosting the health of urban poor in Indonesia.

Fast facts:

Up to 600 cubic metres of used cooking oil turned into biodiesel per year;
1,500 tonnes per year of carbon dioxide emissions reduced;
4 cars used to collect the oil and deliver the biodiesel;
Goal to collect 800 to 1,000 litres of oil per day.

The problem

Although Bali is Indonesia’s number-one tourist destination, the island has a major problem with waste disposal. In hundreds of hotels and restaurants, primarily in the touristic centers on the island, large quantities of cooking oil are regularly used, producing vast amounts of waste oil. This waste oil is typically placed into canisters to be dumped with solid waste, poured into wastewater, or simply strained and reused for cooking in small kitchens. Such unsystematic disposal of used cooking oil results in water and soil pollution, and contributes to global warming. In addition to unsustainable disposal practices, reusing it in food stalls contributes to significant health risks.

The solution

This project recycles used cooking oil from participating hotels and restaurants into high-quality biodiesel, which is used for transportation, electricity, and heat generation. Waste oil is collected by plant operator Lengis Hijau (which means “green oil”) directly at hotels and restaurants, or is brought to the processing plant in the northwest of Denpasar. All profit will be reinvested into further biodiesel production activities, and social and environmental initiatives.

Helping the planet

The project mitigates climate change by substituting fossil-based diesel fuel with biodiesel. It also reduces environmental pollution by better managing disposal of used cooking oil. The project also raises awareness for sustainable tourism, which in the long term will benefit the environment.

Helping people

The project’s impact expands beyond directly involved parties to all local people, especially the urban poor, by creating a cleaner environment and doing away with unhealthy cooking practices. Furthermore, the activity offers jobs and training to socially disadvantaged people, allowing them to improve their living conditions and their families’ livelihoods.

Scaling up

There is potential to upscale the activities on the island to achieve an even higher impact. The project is thus trying to recruit more hotels and restaurants to participate. As operation cost may be covered by biodiesel sales, it represents a sustainable business model.

The project was set up as a showcase and pilot, which could initiate many similar activities in Indonesia and all over the world. The handling of waste oil is a comparable problem in many regions; the technology and business model used in this project is simple and readily available, and as such can be easily replicated.