The City of Plano leads area recycling efforts through its innovative cooking oil collections program. The holiday season offers residents a unique opportunity to dispose of used turkey fryer oil, along with other cooking oils, for recycling into biodegradable renewable fuel.

The Household Chemical Collection Program offers a convenient pick-up service for the collection of cooking oil all year to Plano residents. The oil needs to be placed in rigid plastic containers, labeled, and secured with screw top lids for transporting. To schedule a collection, contact Environmental Waste Services at 972-769-4150.

Collected turkey fryer oil and other cooking oils will be donated to Texas’s first renewable energy-powered plant producing biodiesel fuel, Biodiesel Industries, Inc.

Pouring cooking oil down the drain, tossing it in the trash or dispensing it in a storm inlet allows the oil to enter creeks and ultimately our drinking water. “As residents realize that improper disposal of household chemicals is dangerous for the environment and impacts water quality, they understand the importance of more responsible disposal methods,” said Shannon Unruh, Household Chemical Education Coordinator. “Last year, we collected 1,200 gallons of cooking oil for reuse as a clean, alternative fuel source.”

Recycling cooking oil is an inventive approach to replacing petroleum diesel fuel, while helping the environment. Not only is biodiesel fuel non-toxic and biodegradable, but it significantly improves air quality.

“Biodiesel fuel offers an opportunity for Texas to replace the oil fields of the Middle East with the vegetable oil fields right here at home,” said Joe Jobe, executive director of the National Biodiesel Board.

http://www.plano.gov/