How To Recycle Your Used Cooking Oil

How to recycle cooking oil or dispose of it properly

Recycling cooking oil is possible although it can't go in the average recycling bin. You'll need to reach out to the recycling centre in your area and ask if they accept cooking fats and oils as part of a recycling effort.

Cooking oils can be filtered and recycled into products such as bio-fuel, cosmetics and stockfeed.

If it's not possible to recycle your cooking oil make sure you dispose of it correctly. This is super important as disposing of cooking oil incorrectly in drains and sinks can cause plumbing and environmental problems.

Check Recycling Near You if you're in Australia for recycling facilities in your area.

If you're from somewhere else in the world and you know a similar online service that allows people to check for recycling facilities nearby, please leave a comment at the bottom of this article. It greatly helps our community to find solutions.

More on cooking oil disposal

Household cooking oil can be stored in a sealable jar or wiped up with absorbent paper, to then be placed in your general waste bin. To repeat, never pour it down the drain.

Business Insider put it rather eloquently, "The best plan is not to let any grease get down the drain if you don't want the sewer coming out of your faucet."

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Reusing cooking oil for another meal

Yes, you can reuse it. But there are a few rules that apply.

Make sure you filter the oil between uses (which means straining it to get all the little bits of food out, among other things.)

Also, the frying oil is going to take on the flavour of food you cooked in it. Be aware of separating your oils to prevent bad flavor overlaps. Fried chicken oil might be great for a stir fry, but I'd think twice about using it for doughnuts.

Epicurious has a great article on reusing cooking oil safely. Read it here. Wikihow has a few alternative ideas for reusing cooking oil too such as in soap.

To sum up

• Cooking oil can be recycled at a proper facility and turned into products such as bio-fuel, cosmetics and stockfeed.
• Cooking oil can be reused, just be sure you do so safely.
• If you can't recycle or reuse it, always dispose of oil correctly in your general waste bin and NOT down the drain.

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