Alam Flora offers RM1.20 for each kg of used cooking oil

<b>By Fatin Nabihah Marzuki</b>

PUTRAJAYA, Aug 9 (Bernama) -- Alam Flora Sdn Bhd through its Buy Back Centre is offering the public RM1.20 for every kilogramme of used cooking oil.

Its chief executive officer Datuk Mohd Zain Hassan said the effort, introduced in 2013, was aimed at educating the public on the 5R concept of Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle and Recover.

"Recycled cooking oil can be processed into various products such as soap, cosmetics and candles as well as biodiesel through the transesterfication process which can be used by heavy vehicles such as buses and tractors," he told Bernama.

As of May, he said a total 270 tonnes of used cooking oil had been deposited in Putrajaya, Selangor and Kuala Lumpur areas.

Mohd Zain said the initiative was also important in addressing the problems of blocked and smelly drains as well as water pollution.

Mohd Zain said Alam Flora collected an average of nine tonnes or between 30 and 40 barrels of used cooking oil per month which would then be sold to interested parties.

There are two recycling centres which would buy used cooking oil, namely in Jalan Bunus 6, Kuala Lumpur and Precinct 9 here.

Meanwhile, asked on the danger of reusing cooking oil repeatedly, Universiti Putra Malaysia Faculty of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences, Industry and Community Network Unit head Prof Dr Mohd Ali Hassan said it could increase cholesterol level and lead to heart problems.

-- BERNAMA