Tagged with 'recycling'

Across the country and around the world criminals are targeting a new kind of “liquid gold” — used cooking oil.

The headlines say it all:

“Three charged in Harford in $1 million scheme to steal used cooking oil”

“Huh? Thieves stealing used cooking grease to turn into quick cash”

“Theft of grease for biofuel gets stickier”

In 2014, two brothers, both in their 70s, pleaded guilty to federal charges of conspiring to sell and transport used cooking oil stolen from restaurants in Rhode Island and Massachusetts. The FBI wiretapped a federal informant to bring the pair to justice, and prosecutors said the two men stole grease worth more than $120,000 over the course of two years.

Businesses and local authorities, though, are fighting back.

In the 1980s, the grease removed from restaurant grease traps, including automatic grease removal systems like Big Dipper® , sometimes was disposed into dumpster trash. At the time, many food service locations did not access to grease recycling services and dumped waste fryer grease, meat drippings and interior grease traps into their garbage waste.