For those of us who may not make regular trips to the Metro recycling station, it may come as a mild surprise that individuals can recycle their used cooking oil at several locations throughout the Portland metropolitan area and beyond.
Encore Oils, a subsidiary of Sequential Biofuel, collects waste oil from these locations, transporting it to Sequential’s biodiesel plant in Salem. Once delivered to Sequential, the oil is processed into biodiesel in about three weeks, then distributed to retail and commercial customers throughout the state. The technology at the Sequential’s Salem plant allows for any vegetable oil to be processed into biodiesel including soy, corn, canola and olive oil.
Encore also pays (depending on market conditions) to collect large quantities of oil from a myriad of restaurants and commercial food processors –including Kettle Foods, Shari’s restaurants, and Burgerville– all of which becomes biodiesel sold throughout Oregon. Individual public drop-offs are by donation only.
heat local, baby
I’ve been happily heating my home with Sequential’s Oregon-sourced, Oregon-refined B99 (99.9% waste oil-derived biodiesel) since upgrading to a bio-furnace in October, 2007. More than 90 percent of Sequential’s biodiesel is produced using Oregon-sourced waste vegetable oil. The remaining stock comes from Canola oil produced in Oregon, from Oregon-grown crops. Sequential’s biodiesel for home heating is available for delivery in the Portland areas from the fine folks at Star Oil.
When dropping off containers of used cooking oil at any of the locations listed below, make sure they’re clearly marked with labels stating, ‘Used Cooking Oil’ –it’s also recommended that the oil be recycled in the same container it was purchased.
The following locations are open to the public for oil drop-off –call ahead for hours:
Encore Oils
10111 NE 6th DR.
Portland, OR 97211
503.954.2154
Far West Fibers
4629 SE 17th Ave
Portland, OR
Portland Recycling Centers
2005 Rosa Parks Way
Portland, OR
Portland Recycling Centers
1520 NW Quimby
Portland, OR
Portland Recycling Centers
341 Foothills Road
Lake Oswego, OR
Metro Transfer Stations
2001 Washington Street
Oregon City, OR
Metro Transfer Stations
6161 NW 61st Avenue
Portland, OR
Salem Transfer Station
3250 Deer Park Dr SE
Salem, OR 97301
503.588.5169
Woodburn Transfer Station
17827 Whitney Lane NE
Woodburn, OR 97071
503.588.5169
SeQuential Retail Station
86714 McVay Hwy
Eugene, OR 97405
541.736.5864
Far West Fibers
6440 SE Alexander Street
Hillsboro, OR
Far West Fibers
10750 SW Denney Road
Beaverton, OR
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As with most commodities, the market leads the way as to whether a commercial food processor or restaurant gets paid by Encore for their waste oil. Encore adjusts prices for commercial waste oil based on the market conditions for ‘yellow oil’ (waste vegetable oil) –as of today, the commodity price is about 10 cents/pound for ‘dry’ waste oil. To be considered ‘dry’, the oil must be free of water and/or other debris. Commercial waste oil typically isn’t clean enough or water-free to be considered ‘dry’, so it receives a ‘wet’ price, which is lower. Additionally, total oil quantity collected from any given account may alter the price (more oil collected = higher price).
Subsequently, as of today, new Encore grease collection accounts do not receive payments, whereby older, existing accounts may still be receiving payments as part of an earlier agreement at a set price. During the big rush last summer, some Encore customers were receiving payments as high as 35 cents/gallon. As with any market, conditions can and will change.
The public waste vegetable oil collection program appears to working very well, diverting a good deal of waste oil that may have otherwise entered the waste stream, thereby proving useless to Oregon’s biofuel industry.
According to Encore, they’re currently collecting anywhere from 100 to 300 gallons per month from each drop-off location, and the numbers are rising.
Every time I turn up my thermostat, I’ll thankfully smile at the thought of all those homemade donut-frying experiments, fish fries, and deep-fried turkeys that have contributed to my family’s comfort.
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