New Uruguayan firm launches new pilot project

State-owned company Alcoholes de Uruguay (Alur) has launched a pilot project to recycle used cooking oil (UCO) and convert it into biodiesel.

The project, which uses a 'smart' glass container that receives UCO containers and provides clean ones in return, is modelled on recycling systems implemented by the company Ekogras in the northern Spanish city of San Sebastian.

A 'smart' container has been installed to gather UCO at a school in Montevideo and the idea is to gradually set up others nationwide.

The aim is to leverage the capacity of Alur's new plants in Uruguay to produce biodiesel from UCO, 'as Europe has been doing for some time,' says Nicolas Ferrari, head of Alur's oleaginous products and derivatives unit.

Raising awareness and education are part of this recycling initiative.

'One litre of oil contaminates 1,000 litres of water and in Uruguay each inhabitant uses an average of 15 litres year, 3 of which end up as waste,' Ferrari says.

By Q1 next year, Alur will have increased the number of smart containers in Montevideo to 10 and will install others in the towns of Canelones and Piriapolis.