In A First, McDonald’s Converts Used Cooking Oil To Biodiesel In India

Reportedly, the company now converts 35,000 litres of used cooking oil into biodiesel every month, which saves up on 420,000 litres of crude oil annually

By: News Desk |
July 24, 2018 7:44 pm

Fast-food giant McDonald’s has taken strides towards a more sustainable future by becoming the first food company in India to recycle cooking oil to make biodiesel. According to a statement, by Hardcastle Restaurants Pvt Ltd (HRPL), a subsidiary of Westlife Development Ltd which operates McDonald’s franchises in west and south India, the chain restaurant now uses the biodiesel to run all its delivery trucks in Mumbai.

“We strongly believe in protecting our environment and that makes sustainability and conservation an important part of our operations in India,” said Amit Jatia, Vice Chairman, Westlife Development Ltd. “This is just the beginning and we will continue to champion the cause of environment protection in the years to come,” Jatia added.

Reportedly, the company now converts 35,000 litres of used cooking oil into biodiesel every month, which saves up on 420,000 litres of crude oil annually. Biodiesel is a cleaner alternative to conventional fuels, with 75 percent lower carbon emissions as compared to diesel.

ALSO READ: The ‘Eco-Friendly’ Shaadi: This Mumbai Couple Used Only Recycled Products At Their Wedding

As part of the process, used cooking oil is first collected and transferred to a converting facility, where it is recycled to make biodiesel. Thereafter, it is moved to a distribution centre, where the oil is used to power refrigerated trucks to run deliveries for McDonald’s.

ALSO READ: Environmentalists Rejoice As Maharashtra Imposes Plastic Ban With Heavy Penalty

Proud to acknowledge that HRPL has become the first restaurant chain to initiate such a move, President of the Biodiesel Association Of India, Sandeep Chaturvedi, said, “HRPL and Unicon Biofuels have been working for the past one year to convert used cooking oil to biodiesel as per the Bureau of Indian Standards. The Biodiesel Association of India encourages all food companies to learn from this initiative and apply it in their own business model.”

HRPL now hopes to go further and utilise 15 lakh litres of recycled used cooking oil to run delivery trucks over the next four years. The move will result in an overall reduction of 4,000 MT of carbon emissions — equivalent to planting 2 lakh trees.

For interesting videos from InUth, follow us on

Youtube.com/InUthdotcom