Mandatory Recycling of Waste Cooking Oil from Residential and Commercial Sectors in Taiwan

Abstract

Waste cooking oil (WCO) has been considered a low-cost and renewable feedstock for the production of biodiesel and biobased products if it can be economically and efficiently collected and recycled. The objective of this case study is to review the scientific background of WCO recycling in the literature in connection with the regulatory and promotional measures in Taiwan under the authorization of a legal waste management system. Furthermore, the updated information about the on-line reporting WCO amounts in Taiwan is also analyzed to illustrate its significant increase in the recycling status of WCO officially designated as one of the mandatory recyclable wastes since 2015. Finally, an overview of available utilization of WCO as biodiesel, fuel oil, and non-fuel related uses is briefly addressed in this paper. It shows that the collected amounts of WCO from residential and commercial sectors in Taiwan significantly increased from 1599 tonnes in 2015 to 12,591 tonnes, reflecting on the WCO recycling regulation effective since 2015. Practically, the most important option for this urban mining is to reuse WCO as an energy source for the productions of biodiesel and auxiliary fuel. Other non-fuel related uses include the production of soaps/detergents, C-18 fatty acids, and lubricants. However, the reuse of WCO as a feed additive should be banned to prevent it from re-entering the food chain.

Underutilised Resources in Urban Environments

“…Table 1 shows that there are interlinkages between circular economy and renewable energy schemes. Seven out of the ten publications address solid wastes and their potential valorisation as part of circular economy schemes [3][4][5][6][7][8][9], which can be material recycling or energetic valorisation. Source-segregated waste destined for energetic valorisation is considered a source of renewable energy; four out of the seven manuscripts which address solid wastes are closely linked to renewable energy, and therefore fall into both categories of circular economy and renewable energy.…”

“…Tsai [7] presents a case study on recycling waste cooking oil in Taiwan. This material occurs in considerable quantity from the cooking processes for human daily meal preparation.…”

Promoting the Circular Economy via Waste-to-Power (WTP) in Taiwan

“…For example, waste cooking oil has been reused for biodiesel (fatty acid methyl ester) production in Taiwan, which has been demonstrated, in the garbage cars and public buses, to mitigate the GHG emissions and improve the urban air quality [21]. On 3 November 2017, the EPA further announced the reuse types (e.g., renewable biomass energy like WTP and biogas-to-power) of four general wastes, which include kitchen waste, night soil, waste lubricating oil, and waste cooking oil [22].…”

Waste cooking oil processing for fatty acid methyl ester and mono glycerides production with magnetite catalyst

“…The problem arises lately as many restaurants and hotels sold WCO to other dealers, which then recycle it. The recycled oil supposedly should not be used for cooking as it is unfit for consumption, causing health hazards when it is consumed or used in processing products (Tsai, 2019). WCO can be converted to cooking oil through adsorption.…”