Reduce / Reuse / Recycle

June 13, 2005

 

Kyoto Community Recycles 50,000 Liters/Year of Cooking Oil into Biodiesel

Keywords: NGO / Citizen Reduce / Reuse / Recycle Renewable Energy 

The Tango Nature Conservancy Association, an incorporated nonprofit organization in the Tango District of Kyoto Prefecture, collects used cooking oil from households and restaurants, and recycles it as biodiesel fuel, with the cooperation of a recycling company in Kyoto City. Official city vehicles and ten privately-operated food waste collection trucks in Kyotango City, started using this recycled oil as fuel in 2005.

The association was established in 2000 with 11 members, including the association's current president, Mitsuhiro Kamata. They started collecting cooking oil waste to conserve water quality in the Aso Sea, which they have cherished since childhood. The average amount of oil collected each month was initially less than 20 liters, but the association expanded its activities and installed oil collection tanks at 200 sites, including kindergarten kitchens, supermarkets, and public facilities in six cities and towns in the Tango District. After some large companies joined the effort, the amount of oil collected in 2004 amounted to 50,000 liters.

The association estimates that if it could recycle all of the cooking oil used in Tango District (an area with 40,000 households), it could reduce carbon dioxide emissions by the equivalent of 633 tons annually. The 50,000 liters (about 132 tons) collected in 2004 are calculated to have cut the district's CO2 emissions by 20 percent. The association sees its work of collecting used cooking oil as a big contribution to efforts to prevent global warming, and as an initiative to create a sustainable society. Kamata says, "I want to build a biodiesel processing plant. We aim to create a sustainable community. Our association wants to make our district a 100-percent recycling community and produce no emissions, by using locally-produced fuel to meet all the citizens' needs."



Posted: 2005/06/13 09:27:34 AM
Japanese version

 

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