FAQ Sheet
What type of cooking oil will you be collecting?
At this time, all waste vegetable oil from fryers will be collected.
When and how often will you collect it?
You can call in advance to schedule a pickup, either on a regular or an as-needed basis. We can pick up anytime between 8am and 4pm, as frequently as needed.
What are the benefits of collecting waste vegetable oil?
Waste vegetable oil is often disposed of improperly down the drains, ending up in our sewer system and clogging the pipes. Offering a FREE collection service enables the SFPUC to work with restaurants to keep this oil out of the drain.
Instead of scraping oil from clogged sewers and spending a significant amount of money and resources, we can turn this waste oil into biodiesel, a cleaner burning alternative to petroleum diesel, to fuel our city fleets.
Will you provide a container for the waste vegetable oil?
Yes. We provide free 55-gallon drums for large restaurants. We encourage smaller restaurants to reuse the 5-gallon containers the oil originally came in. Both provide convenient storage options and enable the City to recycle the oil and the containers. Please make sure the caps on the containers are tight to avoid spillage.
Do you offer grease trap service as well?
No, but we can supply you with a list of providers who offer this service.
Do you take partially hydrogenated oil (shortening)?
Though we will collect partially hydrogenated oils, we STRONGLY encourage restaurants to switch to 100% pure vegetable oil if they haven’t already done so (most establishments have). Bi-Rite, Sysco, Costco all offer 100% pure vegetable oil for about the same price as partially hydrogenated oils. In addition, many consumers are concerned about partially hydrogenated oil because it contains transfats, which are extremely unhealthy.
What’s the reason for keeping water out of the waste oil?
Water disrupts and delays the biodiesel-making process and is very difficult to remove. For the same reason, please don’t add fryer wash water to the containers.
How soon can you schedule my restaurant for this FREE service?
You can start your service immediately by contacting our Biofuel Coordinator, Karri Ving, at (415) 695-7366, karri@sfgreasecycle.org or by clicking here to sign-up online. It’s an easy process and can take as little as 4 minutes to get you into our system.
