Cooking oil waste recycling experiences worldwide: a preliminary analysis of the emerging networks in the São Paulo Metropolitan Region, Brazil

Abstract

The recycling of used cooking oil is gaining increasing attention as society begins to realise the environmental, economic and social benefits of this activity. This study aims to analyse how cooking oil recycling networks are formed to identify ongoing initiatives of collection and reuse, as well as to understand the processes of both formation and expansion of these networks. In a number of countries, initiatives are emerging in this area, each one with specific characteristics. In Brazil, several Civil Society Organizations of Public Interest (CSOPIs) and some non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are spreading this idea and forming networks among suppliers of used oil, collection points, processors and companies that use the recycled oil. This study examined two CSOPIs to obtain a preliminary overview of a number of existing initiatives for the collection and recycling of cooking oil in Brazil and the networks that are being formed around these initiatives.