Food waste represents a major portion of the waste stream in the hotel industry and its proper disposal, particularly the management of fat, oil and grease (FOG) waste, presents a challenge to the hotel and catering sector in the UAE, a country that continues to witness tremendous growth in the tourism and hospitality industry. Again, residential waste cooking oil is another area of concern. Various entities are now encouraging the respective sectors to recycle waste edible oil to convert it into biodiesel, etc. Swaliha Shanavas takes a look at the developments in this segment in the UAE and speaks with a recycling expert to find out more about their dedicated services and the key issues they face in this sector. The significance of recycling edible oil waste and its impact in lowering carbon emissions is gradually being recognised in the UAE as certain companies have started to convert this waste into a resource in the form of biodiesel and so on. There are a few pilot projects and initiatives being undertaken by various entities in the emirates as well. For instance, McDonald’s UAE has been collaborating with Neutral Fuels to use biodiesel in their vehicles, thus contributing to environmental protection. The company reached a significant milestone in mid-December 2015 when their fleet logistics trucks hit 5,000,000km running on 100 percent biodiesel from recycled vegetable oil from its outlets. Providing this segment an impetus is also the residential awareness programme on edible oil recycling introduced by the Centre of Waste Management–Tadweer, Abu Dhabi in collaboration with Masdar Institute of Science & technology. An initiative to convert household’s cooking oil waste into biodiesel for vehicles was launched in February 2016 in the emirate. The pilot project was introduced in Abu Dhabi’s Al Raha Gardens community where residents were provided with a container to store cooking oil waste, instead of emptying it down a kitchen sink. The waste containers can be emptied into one of the large collection point containers placed in the Al Raha area, with the support of students from Al Raha International School for door-to-door collection during April. The oil waste is then treated and purified to produce biodiesel and glycerol.

Blue-Envirol’s solutions

In Dubai, cooking oil recycling has been an area of focus for many years. Rafael Sanjurjo Lopez, Regional General Manager - GCC, Blue, says, Blue - the new identity of Alserkal Group’s Environmental Division, has since 1991 been “a market pioneer within the UAE’s environmental and waste management sector”, and one of their solutions in waste collection and recovery is Envirol, “the region’s only edible oil recovery plant”. “Blue-Envirol started searching for solutions to the problem of edible oil waste over a decade ago. In close collaboration with Dubai Municipality, Alserkal Group set out to find the best grease trap waste recycling technology available and finally Alserkal decided to use systems from northern Europe and to invest in R&D in order to develop its own customised technology. ,” he says. “In April 2008, Dubai Municipality and Alserkal Group jointly launched Envirol, the waste edible oil recycling plant in Al Aweer, Dubai. The treatment plant has been built and managed by Alserkal Group, on a 25 year Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) agreement with the Dubai Municipality,” Lopez adds. This is the first treatment facility for waste edible oil “in the entire Middle East” and the plant is equipped to handle the separation of oils and grease accumulated in grease traps at food processing companies, restaurants, hotels, hospital kitchens and other service and food related spheres, he states. “The technology used in the factory was developed by and belongs to the Alserkal Group, and enables the separation of a maximal percentage of FOG (fat, oil and grease) from the grease trap waste and the recycling into useable components.” “The Envirol plant was designed for a capacity of 40,000 gallons per day, “but now with the growth of tourism in Dubai there are numerous new hotels and food and beverage outlets resulting in increased production of grease trap waste, so the company plans to double the capacity to 80,000 gallons per day,” Lopez notes. As per Dubai Municipality regulations it is mandatory for all food processing companies to install grease traps in their kitchens to avoid sending oil and grease to the STPs (Sewage Treatment Plants). Grease traps and interceptors installed within the drainage system separate FOGs and maintain cleanliness while preventing any kind of blockage, the GM says.

Green value chain

“The recycling plant is only one part of a green value chain that Alserkal Envirol proposes,” says Lopez. The steps leading to the safe disposal of edible oil waste include: All food service owners are required to install grease traps to process their kitchen wastewater by the municipality. These traps capture FOG from the drain line and have to be emptied regularly; Food service owners hire contractors that pick up the grease trap waste on a regular basis and deliver it to the recycling plant; The recycling plant processes the waste and separates it into reusable components; The resulting components are vegetable oil, used for the production of soap, biodiesel and oil burners; bio-solids, used as fertilizer; and water used for irrigational purposes.

Key challenges

If recycling is such a good thing, how come there are still so many people not doing it? “This may be due to the fact that grease trap waste recycling is perceived to be linked to additional effort and cost,” says Lopez. There are three major challenges that Envirol faces, he underlines: Costs: Recycling plants have to charge clients per gallon of waste delivered due to the considerable fix costs attached to running the facility. So, food service owners try and find cheaper ways of disposing of their waste and resort to illegal dumping. “Ironically, often the damages that blocked pipes and pumps cause can end up costing business owners much more than it would to adhere to recycling regulations. To encourage recycling, governments might want to consider offering subsidisation of recycling for small food business owners, which would simultaneously increase the demand for state-of-the-art waste recycling plants,” he remarks. Contractors: The challenge does not always lie with the food service owner; depending on the contractor that is hired to dispose of the grease trap waste things could go wrong, he emphasises. “Some contractors are known to dump the waste in the desert or into the drains causing the municipality high costs in blockages and contamination.” In collaboration with the municipality, Alserkal Envirol has developed certain enforcing measures in order to prevent illegal dumping – GPS tracking devices are to be installed in the trucks used by licensed contractors to pick up grease trap waste, to know their whereabouts during delivery time. Additionally, valves will be installed to assure that the tanks containing the grease can only be opened once the trucks arrive at the recycling plant and not before. Lack of Awareness: In his view, one of the greatest obstacles in disposing of edible oil waste is the lack of awareness among consumers and business community. Many think that by emptying the grease traps into the garbage bag they have taken care of the problem and often do not understand the extent of damage this behaviour can cause, the GM says. “Raising awareness can be one of the most difficult parts of the recycling process. The company consciously includes hygiene training and eco-practice training as a part of their services”. However, changing behaviour and instilling consciousness in people is often difficult, which is why the regulations by the municipality play a crucial role in managing grease trap waste disposal, he notes. “It is all about changing the mind-set. Many collect the waste oil and dump it into the man-hole of a Sewage Treatment Plant. This attitude needs to be amended. The biggest challenge is to build awareness. Further, the question remains, whether people would practice the recycling approach despite the regulations,” reiterates Lopez. Surely, one can hope that continuous efforts and initiatives along with strict regulations will encourage recycling and help in conserving natural resources in the long run!