Used Fryer Oil in Restaurants the New Target of Thieves

New York – 03.16.2012 An item that was previously considered useless by many is now turning out to be the hot target of thieves across the country.

For years together, restaurant owners have been paying contractors for hauling away used fryer oil that was primarily used as animal feeds or in local gear heads. However, the latest surge of biodiesel in converted car engine has suddenly enhanced the value of these used fryer oils, an essential component in making the biodiesel for automobiles with such converted engines.

“With the demand for biodiesel and bio fuel consistently rising fryer oil has now become a booming commercial commodity in the market. The cost has skyrocketed to 40 cents per pound from the original 10 cents that was the prevalent price a few years ago. No wonder; it is one of the tempting targets for thieves, especially in these days of hard financial times around”, comments a news agency in New York.

Not that the authorities in administration are unaware of these developments. For instance; both California and Virginia have already enacted special statutes for regulating the collection of grease from commercial kitchens. Similar legislation is in pipeline in North Carolina as well. However, when it comes to enforcement of the law, the scenario looks different.

“It’s very difficult to get district attorneys to take it seriously,” said Douglas Hepper, head of the California state agency that regulates the disposal of grease. “They’re busy with murders and meth labs and they have limited budgets themselves, so they have to set priorities.”

Very few cases reach the trial stages in court and even in cases that are tried in the court, the offenders get off with a small fine and it does not prevent them from hitting the dig all over again. Stealing of fryer oil from restaurants from unlicensed haulers causing loss of millions of dollars to the exchequer had escaped the notice of the law enforcement agencies in Untied States for over a decade.

Of course the implementation part is easier said than done. One of the lawyers in Houston, Jon A. Jaworski reportedly has already own a dozen cases representing the thieves and in all these cases his argument was that the used fryer oil should be considered abandoned property and hauling it does not constitute the act of theft or robbery. Also the grease is store in black dumpsters and therefore is easy pickup in night times.

Industry people are trying in their own way to prevent such stealing. One of the ways they adopt is entering into contracts with the hauler companies selling the grease at around $300 per container. Of late police has also started taking note of the growing demands of used fryer oil and their stealing and in 2011 there were around 100 arrests for such theft. However, turning arrests into conviction has proved to be a different proposition altogether.

An example has been set by Darling Company that has over 2000 trucks to pick up grease in different sites of 42 states. It filed a couple of civil lawsuits against companies accusing them of taking its grease and received nearly $60,000 toward damages. But such legal battles may not be cost economic for smaller companies like Sacramento Rendering that serves 2,500 restaurants in Northern California and sustains loss to the tune of $750,000 per annul due to such theft.

It seems that the years when restaurants paid companies to take away their used grease is over. Now it is time for competition to grab the used fryer oil between thieves and companies in contract to take them from restaurants.

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