Man Arrested for Stealing Grease to Make Biodiesel
by Michael Graham Richard, Gatineau, Canada on 04. 3.08
David Richardson, a 49-year old man from Illinois, was arrested by the police in Morgan Hill, California. He was trying to steal used cooking grease from a Burger King restaurant and pump it into his tanker truck when he was caught greasy-handed.
Ok, can someone tell that guy that if you ask, many restaurants will be more than happy to have you take away their cooking grease since otherwise they have to pay someone to do it? We hope that none of our biodiesel/SVO-using readers are stealing grease. Please, always ask permission!
The good side of this story is that it's probably evidence of the rising popularity of biodiesel. But not all biodiesel is made equal, it depends on the feedstock: Waste cooking grease is green, virgin soybeans probably not, and algae is the future. If you want to learn more about it, check out: ::Green Basics: Biodiesel, ::Ethanol vs. Biodiesel: Just the Facts, ::Find Biodiesel With Your Cell Phone.
Unfortunately, free grease is a thing of the past. With $4+ diesel per gallon, there are very very few restaurants that still pay for grease disposal. Almost all of them have contracts with rendering companies, who like the article outline, are going to increasing lengths to keep people out of the traps. I've even seen a few behind restaurants with locks on them now.
Remember folks Illionois is one of those lackey states. This dude more than likely be charged with tax evasion for the grease he has turned into bio-diesel as well.
Think it will not happen think again.
D~W
Unfortunately, free grease is a thing of the past. With $4+ diesel per gallon, there are very very few restaurants that still pay for grease disposal. Almost all of them have contracts with rendering companies, who like the article outline, are going to increasing lengths to keep people out of the traps. I've even seen a few behind restaurants with locks on them now.
It's not a lot of money but there is a market for used grease and oil and there are companies that pick up old grease oil and pay the restaurant, and I'm sure this is the case with Burger King.
That used oil goes for 1.35 USD a gallon in SoCal. - .80 USD in Las Vegas.
It is real theft - real money is to be had from this former 'waste'.
And that folks, that is the good news.
HA
He was stealing to be sure, that stuff is worth money. Always ask permission.
You can't get free grease in my town. Everyone already has dibs on it, and the pits are locked with hand made signs specifically telling you the grease is not garbage. But on Craigslist today, I did see someone giving away 40 gallons of used cooking oil for bio-diesel. Pretty cool.
McDonald's won't let you take their grease out of fear someone might reverse engineer their fries, so the rumor goes. They don't actually tell you why they don't give away their grease. Maybe they recycle it into the burgers.
This guy ought to learn to make soap from the glycerine next.
Well, that kinda sucks, I was hoping to get a while more out of the free grease train, but alas, it has come to an end before I even got started :(