Twentieth International Conference on Environmental, Cultural, Economic & Social Sustainability

Abstract

Used cooking oil (UCO) has long been recycled as an additive to soaps, paints, and animal feed. In recent years, recycling of UCO into biodiesel has been gaining attention around the world. Recycling UCO into biodiesel has great significance from the perspective of not only reducing waste, but also curbing the use of fossil fuel. In Japan, approximately 95% of the amount of UCO collected from commercial facilities is recycled, On the other hand, households generate about 100,000 tons of UCO, of which less than 10% is collected and 90% is disposed of, thus the separate collection and recycling of UCO from households is urgently needed in Japan. To increase the number of people who participate in the separate collection of UCO, it is essential to identify factors that influence current participation in the collection of UCO. This study analyzed the impact of different collection program, awareness of collection programs, and awareness of post-collection recycling uses on participation in the separate collection of UCOs among 4.160 households that fry their own food at home. Through this study, the following policy suggestions were obtained to improve the collection rate of UCO: (1) increase awareness of the separate collection of UCO, (2) inform the public about the use of the collected UCO, and (3) collect the waste cooking oil at the same location as combustible waste.