Karnataka plans app to track used cooking oil, prevent re-entry into food chain

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A man using an app to collect and track details of the used cooking oil collected at a restaurant in Bengaluru. | Photo Credit: File photo

Karnataka’s Health Department is developing a mobile application to track the collection, sale, and reuse of used cooking oil, with the objective of preventing re-entry into the food chain, Health Minister U.T. Khader said on November 12.

The application, which is expected to be developed within three months, will create a digital trail from the point at which cooking oil is purchased by hotels and other food business operators to its eventual disposal or transfer to authorised agencies for industrial use, Mr. Khader said.

The initiative is aimed at addressing the illegal diversion of used cooking oil, which is sometimes collected for industrial purposes such as soap manufacturing and biodiesel production but allegedly finds its way back to small hotels and eateries for reuse in cooking.

Addressing presspersons in Bengaluru, Mr. Khader said the Food Safety and Drugs Administration Department would manage the application. All manufacturers and food business operators would be required to register on the platform. The department would initially conduct a trial run in Bengaluru, Mysuru, Mangaluru, and Hubballi.

Explaining the proposed mechanism, he said hotels and other establishments would have to enter details of the quantity of fresh cooking oil purchased, its source, and the quantity of used oil generated. They would have to record the identity of the person or agency to whom the used oil was handed over.

The collectors, in turn, would have to upload details of whom they sold the oil to, the quantity transferred, and the amount paid.

“If a hotel uses 500 litres of oil in a month, it must account for the 50 to 75 litres of used oil generated, assuming a 10% to 15% recovery. It must submit details of whom it handed over the used oil to. The person who collects it must record whom he has sold it to. The entire chain has to be tracked,” he said.

The Minister said the system is necessary because the department currently lacked reliable data on the movement of used cooking oil and its eventual destination.

Under the proposed arrangement, used oil collected from food establishments would have to be channelled towards authorised industrial uses rather than being sold back to food businesses.

Mr. Khader said some agencies authorised to collect used cooking oil for industrial purposes were diverting a portion of it to small hotels.

Explaining the economics behind the diversion, he said collectors could receive around ₹80 for a litre of used oil intended for industrial purposes, while small hotels are willing to pay ₹120 to ₹125 a litre.

“Why would someone sell it for ₹80 when they can get ₹120 by supplying it to a small hotel?”

An employee transfers purified, used cooking oil at an M11 biodiesel manufacturing plant in Bengaluru. | Photo Credit: File photo

He pointed out that used cooking oil had several legitimate industrial applications, including the manufacture of soap, biodiesel and aviation fuel. However, the absence of an effective tracking mechanism made it difficult to ensure that oil collected for these purposes did not return to the food market.

The Minister said the government of Karnataka will write to the Centre seeking greater flexibility in the regulations governing the reuse and export of used cooking oil, particularly given the demand for it in the aviation fuel sector.

He said the department would eventually explore a system to collect used cooking oil from households as well. “Just as we have a system to segregate and collect wet and dry waste from households, we can eventually establish a mechanism for households to store used cooking oil in cans, and hand it over for collection. But this will be a step-by-step process,” he said.

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