Used Cooking Oil or "UCO'' are oils originating from household, commercial or industrial food processing operations, that have been used for cooking or frying.UCO from households, food premises such as cafeterias and restaurants are among the main contributors to water pollution. Pollution originating from UCO occurs due to:

1)    UCO that are thrown into the sink can clog drains and sewers, ruin septic tanks.

2)    The freezing method of UCO into solid state and throwing it along with solid waste and lastly end up in the landfill. The problem here is at a certain temperature the solidified oil will melt and pollute the landfills.

The most significant problem that occurs from the improper management of UCO is indeed the environmental issues, particularly in water and soil pollution. When UCO ultimately ends up reaching the natural water reserves, it is severely harming aquatic and marine life. It has been found to kill the fishes, birds, plants and other aquatic life forms by coating them with oily layers, literally reducing their ability to breathe, thus choking them to death.

There is better way to manage UCO by recycling them. This approach has environmental and economic benefits. In brief, public can sell UCO to the UCO recycling agencies for biofuel production as a sustainable replacement for petroleum-based diesel. As for environmental benefits, there will be less pollution from reduced disposal of UCO and less natural resource extraction for diesel production. In terms of economic benefits, public can generate extra income from recycling their UCO. The current selling price of UCO in Malaysia is around RM1.50-RM2.50 kilogram.

However, not many knows about the benefits of recycling UCO. The awareness among public is still lacking. For that reason, we have to instil their awareness on recycling UCO for the betterment of the environment and as well for the better livelihood of the public. Hence a program will be held to provide awareness and knowledge to the public on recycling UCO. As a pilot program, the focus of this program will be a residential community in Taman Sri Bayu, Tampan Pantai Sepang, Taman Sri Sungai Pelek, and Kampung Bagan Lalang.

1. To expose the community regarding the harm of poor management of used cooking oil.

2. To provide explanation on the implementation of used cooking oil recycling.

3. To encourage the community to recycle their used cooking oil.

Project Details

4.1 Collection of used cooking oil 

Undergrad Environmental Management students will be collecting used cooking oil from Putra Food Court, the cafeteria in Universiti Putra Malaysia .

4.2 Soap Making

The committee members of Solid Waste Management are making the soap from used cooking oil by using Research and Development (R&D) methods. The process of making the soap requires 2-3 weeks.

4.3 Selling soap on Environmental Week

Undergrad Environmental Management students are selling soap from used cooking oil at our Environmental Week program that be held on 11 November 2023 under our management Faculty of Forestry and Environment. 

4.4 Awareness Campaign 

The awareness campaign regarding recycling activity of used cooking will be held as a forum to spread awareness to the community. Among activities will be held are:

1. Distribution of pre and post questionnaire survey

There will be distribution of the pre questionnaire survey at the beginning of the campaign and post questionnaire survey at the end of the awareness program. The significance of this activity is to measure the changes in participants’ knowledge and awareness on UCO recycling after they participate in the program.

2. Talk by the project leader regarding Recycling Used Cooking Oil 

The project leader will give a presentation to expose participants to the harms of UCO towards the environment. This will relate to the public roles to do their part to reduce disposal of UCO by recycling for environmental protection.

3. Demonstration of Soap making from used cooking oil 

Undergrad Environmental Management students will be organizing soap making activities where participants can make their own soap from UCO. This is an alternative on how to reuse the UCO for personal usage, or better, for side income generation. 

4. Activities 

Series of games will be conducted to make the program interesting. Colouring competition, lucky person and word scrambles to be decided will be held to test participants’ knowledge on issues circulating around UCO. Prizes will be given to winners. Sponsorship will be obtained to cover the costs of prizes.

1. Community

1. Able to raise awareness regarding the harm of poor management of used cooking oil.
2. Able to improve their knowledge on how to recycle used cooking oil.
3. Able to encourage them to participate in used cooking oil recycling for the long term.

     B) Collector/Industry

1. Able to obtain a source for biodiesel production.
2. Promoting circular economy for sustainability.