Approximately 854,000 tonnes of used cooking oil (UCO) are produced in households across the EU every year. Most of this UCO is directly disposed of down domestic household drains or thrown away into landfill with detrimental effects on the environment, including soil and water systems. This also leads to the loss of a valuable resource, since UCO is a highly sought after commodity, as it can be easily converted into biodiesel.
The EU biodiesel industry has a capacity of over 21 million tonnes, but currently only produces 11.6 million tonnes of biodiesel. The collection and conversion of domestic UCO into biofuel could help close part of this gap. However, the biggest challenge for domestic UCO is the economic viability surrounding the logistics of its collection, since each household produces small volumes of oil. Coupled with market uncertainties related to the price of UCO, the cost of fuel, exchange rates etc, it is therefore not surprising that in the vast majority of European (and other) countries efforts to collect domestic UCO are fragmented, if at all available.
InnovOleum provides a viable solution to the logistical problem of used cooking oil collection, by making schools community collection hubs. Schools benefit from InnovOleum in two ways: (1) part of the proceeds from the sale of the collected UCO is returned to schools to be invested in green infrastructure and green technologies, and (2) UCO becomes a vehicle for hands-on environmental education at schools, both through the provision of training and through the integration of green technologies in the day-to-day curriculum.
InnovOleum is an established action in Cyprus, with 376 participating schools (out of the ca. 500 schools in Cyprus). Additionally, 200 businesses donate part of their UCO to their neighbourhood’s school as part of their CSR policy.
The success of InnovOleum has attracted international interest, and there is therefore a business opportunity. As such, ISOTECH aims to develop a “blueprint” that will allow the replication of InnovOleum in other countries, through a social franchise scheme. This requires the development of a concrete but flexible business plan. Thus, the objective of this proposal is to undertake a feasibility study that will identify the main bottlenecks and how to overcome them, the initial set of target countries for the project’s replication, the strategy for replication, milestones, costs and forecasts, and management plans.
