MIT group targets Brazilian wastepickers in biodiesel from waste grease effort

In Brazil, members of the The Grease Project team, competing at this year’s MIT IDEAS Competition, will undertake training of catadores,  or “wastepickers,”, an underclass in Brazil numbering up to 500,000 persons that make their living from picking through trash.

The group intends to train the catadores to produce biodiesel from waste vegetable oil that the catadores already collect. New Brazilian regulations require the safe disposal of grease and prohibit dumping of WVO is rivers. The team will train workers in 8 cities, commencing with Sao Paulo, and the catadores will use the biodiesel to power their pick-up vehicles.

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