Shanghai launches gutter oil biodiesel program

In China, China Daily is reporting that the Shanghai government has unveiled plans to produce biodiesel from recycled gutter (cooking) oil recycled from local restaurants.

The initiative, which will coordinate efforts by six companies and Tongji University, comes after a scandal erupted in the past two years over the resale of waste cooking oil directly for cooking, which exposed customers to carcinogens and other health problems and led to 32 arrests in a national crackdown on the practice.

A further crackdown in March in Shanghai focused on observing local laws on the disposal of waste oil — and city officials said that the development of new markets for the oils would help turn the problem into an environmental advantage.

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