What is used cooking oil, and what do you do with it? If you’re opening or expanding a restaurant, you may be asking this question for the first time ever.
Restaurant management is a complicated game. There are the obvious players: menus, ingredients, staff, and customers. You planned on these. But there are also many aspects that are much less noticeable, though just as important. Equipment, legal compliance, grease trap maintenance, food waste management—the list goes on. Properly disposing of your used grease is just one of the many vital tasks that no one ever told you about. It gets overwhelming, fast.
At DAR PRO Solutions, we think of a restaurant back-of-house like a crowded party. We’re the face you probably don’t recognize, but our work helps make yours possible. As North American leaders in used cooking oil recycling (handling 50% of all UCO across the United States), we take pride in making restaurant management easier.
If you’re wondering how to handle your cooking oil once it’s been in the fryer, or why it even matters, you’ve come to the right place. Here’s our complete guide to understanding and recycling your restaurant’s used cooking oil with DAR PRO.
What is Used Cooking Oil, and Why Should You Care About It?
Put simply, used cooking oil (UCO) is any grease, oil or fat that has finished its lifecycle as a cooking ingredient. Once oil has been in the fryer for a certain number of uses, it compromises the safety and taste of food. It needs to be disposed of and replaced. Restaurants go through more than almost any industry, using a wide variety of oils and fats to serve up tasty meals.
After cooking, restaurants are responsible for safely disposing of their grease. Exact regulations vary from state to state, but you will be expected to keep pipes clear and avoid contaminating the area around your business.
Though sometimes seen as a waste product, UCO doesn’t have to be. In fact, it has more potential than most other recyclable materials. From home kitchens to food processing plants, many people and industries cook with oil.
The recycling opportunity is staggering. Just imagine, if your restaurant's fryer holds 80 lbs. of oil and you change the oil 2 times per week, you have the potential to recycle approximately 8,000 lbs annually. That's the equivalent of diverting 2,689 bags of trash from the landfill.
Why You Should Recycle UCO?
We all know that it’s a good idea to recycle as much as possible. When you repurpose a product that would otherwise end up in wastewater or a landfill, you relieve the demand for new materials and save valuable resources.
That said, you don’t need a passion for sustainability to recycle your kitchen’s waste products. Experienced food industry businesses know that recycling your cooking oil with a responsible partner solves a world of logistical and compliance problems. Here are just a few of the top reasons why recycling your used cooking oil will benefit your business and the environment.
It’s Good for Your Business (and Ultimately, Your Wallet)
When your waste ingredients are being automatically disposed of, you have more time to focus on running your restaurant. You will also save on repairs and fines—an all-too-common side effect of pouring your grease down the drain or throwing it out irresponsibly.
It’s Good for the Environment
When it’s dumped, used cooking oil is just another waste product. It’s a shame this ever happens, since UCO can be easily recycled as an ingredient in a wide array of highly-valuable products. One of the most important of these is renewable fuel. Also called “renewable diesel” or “green diesel,” it helps reduce our world’s reliance on fossil fuels. It also burns cleaner than traditional fuels, causing less atmospheric pollution.
It’s Good for Your Reputation
It just feels good to support ethical and sustainable businesses. We live in an increasingly eco-conscious world, and consumers are voting with their dollars, even when choosing where to go for dinner. Recycling your used cooking oil is just one way to show your customers what your values are. It might also be the most convenient sustainability practice you ever implement.
Want to know how much potential waste you avoid by recycling? Our handy impact calculator can help you visualize your restaurant’s footprint.
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You Don’t Want to Dispose of It Yourself
This might be the most important factor to consider. Disposing of cooking oil without a recycling partner leaves you with all of the responsibility, and very few options.
These options can seem simpler than recycling when you’re strapped for time. But they can actually cause more complications, some of which are very expensive. Here’s why you’re better off recycling through a trusted partner.
The Benefits of Choosing DAR PRO Solutions as a Partner for Used Cooking Oil Recycling
Customers who choose DAR PRO receive so much more than just cooking oil pickup. Partnership includes end-to-end services: consultation, container selection, delivery, installation, and on-demand, 24/7 customer support.
We design, create, and deliver our own state-of-the-art UCO storage containers in a dependable large-scale manufacturing facility. Our specialty is building secure, high-tech automated systems. Whether you need extra space in your kitchen or are concerned about grease theft, we have technology designed to suit your needs.
In many areas, if your restaurant has a grease trap, you can also add cleaning and maintenance to your service agreement. If DAR PRO routinely cleans and maintains your grease trap according to our recommended schedule, you can feel confident that your grease traps are in compliance with all applicable regulations.
No matter the services you choose, rest assured that whatever we pick up from your store is being responsibly disposed of. Our parent company, Darling Ingredients, has been repurposing bio-nutrients from the world’s food waste streams for over 140 years. We process the majority of the used cooking oil we pick up at 89 biosecure processing plants around the country and deliver it to be recycled into clean-burning fuel. As your cooking oil is transformed into renewable fuel, we adhere to the highest compliance and environmental standards along the way.
Here’s How it Works
Choosing DAR PRO is simple: call us up and sign up for service in minutes. The process of setting up your account and selecting your equipment is simple and transparent, and takes less than a day in most cases.
Automated Indoor Systems
You’ll work with a local sales representative to set up a site survey and deliver the perfect container for your needs.
Outdoor Bins
Create your account in minutes and your used cooking oil bin will be on the way!
Storage Solutions for Every Need
DAR PRO's industry-leading selection of used cooking oil containers make grease recycling easy.. Our UCO tanks are designed to meet and exceed our customers' needs regarding space, volume and features.
You won’t be required to do the footwork or select the right tank—our site survey and recommendations will determine the perfect fit for your output, space, and needs. We offer flexible on-site or virtual surveys for our customers’ convenience.
We’ll Help You Choose the Right Equipment
Not all our container options will work for every restaurant. You might have a container in mind, or you may feel completely lost when looking at the options above. Your site survey will answer all your questions and determine the best system for your space, oil storage needs, and pickup schedule.
Once it’s installed, online training resources for your employees will help streamline your transition into using it.. QR codes on every container make this information easy to access at any time.
Learn more about our systems and setup
Scheduling Service Visits
Once your account is set up, our technicians will install your grease container (a two-hour process) and arrive to empty it at regular intervals. The frequency of service will depend on the volume of oil your restaurant uses. Our process is designed to have minimal impact on your day-to-day operations. In most cases, our direct pump systems allow us to remove your oil without ever entering your kitchen.
Regular Service: What to Expect
When you partner with DAR PRO Solutions for your restaurant services, you can expect convenience, simplicity, and prompt troubleshooting.
Used Cooking Oil Services
Once you’ve set up service and your tank has been installed, you won’t have to think about your used oil much. Our professionally trained, uniformed and licensed service personnel will handle your grease responsibly, thoroughly and in accordance with governmental and environmental regulations. Knowing this, you can focus on running your business without interruptions.
Adding Grease Trap Cleaning: Two Vital Services, One Reliable Partner
Used cooking oil pickup is just one back-of-house service that restaurants need on a regular basis. In addition to cooking oil pickup, we provide grease trap cleaning services to many of our restaurant partners. By adding grease trap service with DAR PRO, you receive both services through the same provider. You’ll have one point of contact for all of your fat, oil, and grease (FOG) needs.
How to Report Problems or Suspicious Activity
If you have concerns and questions about your cooking oil or grease trap, don’t ignore them. Many issues are preventable or easy to solve in their early stages, from odors to safety problems. If you need an answer or suspect your grease may be stolen, contact our customer engagement center and your local authorities for support.
More Resources
We also offer a library of resources through our website that can help you identify problems. Here are a few to help you get started:
Contact our customer engagement center at (855) 327-7761.
Common Used Cooking Oil Concerns, Solved
Running a restaurant comes with its fair share of challenges, to say the least.
After 50+ years in the restaurant service business, we can confidently say we’ve seen it all when it comes to oil and grease problems. Here are some of the most common problems that you may encounter—and their solutions.
Partner with the Restaurant Service Experts
We understand the needs of businesses throughout the food industry, and we prioritize our customers’ success.
Industries We Serve
DAR PRO Solutions serves 225,000 customers across a wide range of independent restaurants, national chains, casinos, hotels, supermarkets and other establishments in the food service industry. Do you have questions about your industry? Get in touch—we’re happy to help you find the right services for your business.
Additional Resources
If you’re looking for more information about DAR PRO, our partners, or how we can serve your business, we encourage you to explore our website’s resources. Here are just a few.
About DAR PRO Solutions
DAR PRO Solutions is a U.S.-based brand of Darling Ingredients focusing on providing professional grease removal services to restaurants, supermarkets, and others in the hospitality or foodservice industry. DAR PRO Solutions collects used cooking oil and meat proteins, fats and bone from its customers, and transports it back to Darling’s national network of facilities where it is cleaned of impurities and water and used as a nutritional ingredient in animal feed and pet food, as a feedstock for biofuel, or for other commercial and industrial applications, such as soaps, cleansers, paints, and more. DAR PRO Solutions also provides customers proprietary used cooking oil collection and storage equipment for both indoor and outdoor installations. DAR PRO Solutions also offers professional grease trap services to ensure customers are meeting all required environmental codes for wastewater streams feeding into a municipal water treatment supply. The DAR PRO Solutions brand was established after the acquisition of Griffin Industries by Darling Ingredients in 2010. Learn more about the DAR PRO Solutions brand at www.darpro-solutions.com, or follow us @darpro-solutions on Facebook, LinkedIn or Twitter.
About Darling Ingredients
Darling Ingredients Inc. is the world’s largest publicly-traded developer and producer of sustainable natural ingredients from edible and inedible bio-nutrients. Darling Ingredients creates a wide range of ingredients and customized specialty solutions for customers in the pharmaceutical, food, pet food, feed, technical, fuel, bioenergy and fertilizer industries. With operations on five continents, the Company collects and transforms all aspects of animal by-product streams into useable and specialty ingredients, such as gelatin, edible fats, feed-grade fats, tallow, animal proteins and meals, plasma, pet food ingredients, organic fertilizers, fuel feedstocks, green energy, natural casings and hides. The Company also recovers and converts used cooking oil and commercial bakery residuals into valuable fuel or feed ingredients. In addition, the Company provides grease trap services to food service establishments, environmental services to food processors, and offers their own line of restaurant cooking oil collection equipment. For additional information about Darling Ingredients, visit the company's website at www.darlingii.com or follow us @darlingingredients on Facebook and LinkedIn.
DAR PRO Solutions provides used cooking oil recycling and grease trap maintenance service to restaurants across the country. Our program and used cooking oil storage tanks make kitchens safer and more efficient. Reach out to a DAR PRO representative today and find out how your business can benefit from our program. Call us 24/7/365 at 855-DAR-PRO1 (855-327-7761).