The Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) yesterday met management committee heads to explore options to more effectively regulate the use of waste cooking oil, saying there a lack of effective management of waste oil and swill generated by night market vendors.
Department of Waste Management Director-General Wu Tien-chi (吳天基) said the meeting was held in to obtain a more in-depth understanding of how waste cooking oil produced by industries is reused and reprocessed.
In response to questions about whether unlicensed food oil recyclers, also known in Taiwan as “little bees,” are illegal, Wu said these recyclers mainly conduct cleaning work and therefore do not violate the law.
Cultural Creativity Tourism Night Market chief executive officer Liu Chih-yuan (劉至原) said that more significant than the recyclers themselves are firms that serve as downstream waste oil processors, which are most likely large enterprises.
Citing the example of Foods Mart (美食家), the most widely used cooking oil brand at night markets, he said the company’s oil products are sold at between NT$600 and NT$700 per carton on average, but recyclers are willing to pay eatery and food stand owners as much as NT$250 per carton of used oil, which indicates that there are high margins for waste oil reprocessing companies.
The authorities should not place emphasis on individual recyclers, but downstream companies directly related to the oil’s reprocessing and there should be a better understanding of dealings between the two, he said.
He also mentioned the problem of swill recycling, calling it an even worse problem than waste cooking oil, and saying that are loopholes in the regulations for the management of swill.
“Slops are produced by vendors in considerable amounts each day; for example by pan-fried stuffed bun stands and steakhouses. How exactly should they be recycled and where do they all end up?” he said.
In response, an official from the Greater Taichung Health Bureau, who declined to be named, said the bureau has commissioned Shin Shin Environmental Protection Co Ltd (欣欣環保工程) to deal with swill.
However, Liu said that swill cleaners had already been changed two times since the night market opened on July 11 because few companies are able to process the amount of slops produced on a daily basis.
Wu said that swill was not on his department’s list of controlled waste because it has an economic value and can be fed to pigs or used as a fertilizer. However, due to the public outcry sparked by the tainted oil scandal, he pledged to make swill an entry on the list.
Liu also asked authorities to explain to the public that night markets are not a major source of used lard, as most food stands do not use lard. He said that business at night markets has been seriously impacted by the food scare and so has the livelihoods of vendors, most of whom are already disadvantaged members of society.
“Making fried chicken does not require lard; nor does frying squid. The government must correct the false image of food stands it has created,” Liu said.
Wu said he would suggest that the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) order that a contract be inked between food stands and licensed oil reprocessing firms to obtain a clear picture of how waste cooking oil is recycled and reused.
He also talked about the possibility of encouraging licensed waste oil processors to employ individual oil recyclers, adding that similar meetings are to follow shortly.
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