Dec 28, 2019
Portal to trace source of used cooking oil diverted for conversion to biodiesel
In an attempt to give a push to the diversion of used cooking oil (UCO) for making biodiesel, the government has created an online ecosystem, which would make it possible to trace the source of used vegetable oil, used for making biofuel.
The web portal, which will have all the information relating to collection and conversion of UCO for making biodiesel, was unveiled at a workshop organised jointly by the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) and the Biodiesel Association of India (BDAI) here on Friday.
Called Repurpose Used Cooking Oil (RUCO), the initiative spearheaded by FSSAI, attempts to address two major issues. Apart from helping save a part of the forex outflow for crude oil imports, the diversion of used edible oil helps fight adulteration in the edible oil industry and also the adverse health effects associated with reuse of oil for repeated frying.
During frying, several properties of oil get altered, For instance, toxic total polar compounds, which are linked to several diseases such as hypertension, atherosclerosis, Alzheimer’s disease and liver diseases are formed on repeated frying. Therefore, it is essential to monitor the quality of vegetable oils used for frying.
RUCO initiative
On August 10 this year, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, under which FSSAI operates, and the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas came together to launch the RUCO initiative. Subsequently, the Oil Marketing Companies invited expressions of interest (EOIs) for supplying biodiesel produced from UCO from different States. According to the latest count, as many as 200 EOIs have been received.
The government has also announced attractive prices to encourage people to divert UCO for biodiesel manufacture. The ex-factory price of UCO-based biodiesel has been fixed for the next three years. The price of biodiesel from used cooking oil would be Rs 51 per litre (August 2019 to September 2020), while the price in the second year (October 2020 to September 2021) would be Rs 52.7 per litre and Rs 54.5 per litre in the third.
According to Sandeep Chaturwedi, BDAI President, of the 2,467 crore litres of edible oil consumed annually in the country, nearly two-thirds is used by households and food business operators (FBOs) and one-third by soaps and oleochemical manufacturers. The total amount of UCO generated by FBOs in India is estimated at 11.45 lakh tonnes, he said.
Currently, 11 biodiesel plants that can produce biodiesel from UCO opearational in India and many more are expected to come up in the near future.
Besides, the FSSAI is using big data to analyse the total purchase of vegetable oils by FBOs so that it can come up with standard oil consumption norms for cuisines. This can help the authorities estimate UCO production in each district in the country, Chaturwedi said.
"The biggest advantage of having a system in place for traceability is that the enforcing agencies would be able to find out how much UCO is generated by the restaurants and other food operators and how much is being released for repurposing as biodiesel," he said.
47 L kg used cooking oil collected from food biz operators since Aug;70% converted into bio-diesel'
New Delhi, Dec 27 () Nearly 47 lakh kilograms of used cooking oil has been collected from food business operators since August and about 70 per cent of the quantity has been converted into bio-diesel, according to an industry body.
The Biodiesel Association of India (BDAI) on Friday conducted an interactive workshop at the National Street Food Festival being held at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium from December 25-29.
The National Association of Street Vendors of India (NASVI), along with Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI), is organising the festival.
BDAI President Sandeep Chaturvedi said the collection of used cooking oil from food businesses started from August. FSSAI has set up a web portal RUCO (Repurpose Used Cooking Oil) for collection of edible oil.RUCO is a technology platform that gives 100 per cent traceable UCO-based bio-diesel to the oil marketing companies (OMCs).
The RUCO initiative, which is currently running in eight states/UTs, has 11 enrolled bio-diesel manufacturers and four aggregators.
"Total collection recorded till December 24 stood at 46,79,511 Kgs. Around 33,35,469 kgs of bio-diesel have been produced and balance stock of used cooking oil is 13,44,042 kgs," Chaturvedi told reporters.
He said there are about 30 plants for bio-diesel manufacturing.
Chaturvedi said the OMCs are buying bio-diesel at Rs 51 per kg and then blending it with diesel.
He said over 1 million tonnes of bio-diesel can be produced through used cooking oil. The total bio-diesel demand is 45 lakh tonnes per annum for 5 per cent blending.The workshop focused on green initiatives to collect and convert used cooking oil to bio-diesel.
Used cooking oil creates free radicals which attaches to our healthy cells and thus causes serious ailments like heart diseases, bad cholesterol, cancer, and irritable throat. The used cooking oil discharge can also pollute water bodies, freshwater resources and soil. One litre of used oil can contaminate 10,00,000 litres of fresh water."Every used oil collection is recorded and verified with FSSAI registration number of the food business operator. The portal reflects the collection quantity in each city in real time. The aggregated used cooking oil is supplied to the bio-diesel plant who convert it into bio-diesel and supply to the OMCs. All transactions are verified with the GST invoice and E-way Bills," Chaturvedi said.
Fill food safety officers’ posts in 2 months: Telangana High Court
HYDERABAD: Making it clear that the people’s health should be of grave concern for the government, a division bench of Telangana High Court on Wednesday directed the Telangana State Public Service Commission (TSPSC) to fill up 36 vacant posts of food safety officers (FSOs), six posts of food inspectors and one post of assistant food controller in two months.
Besides, the bench directed the State government to file an affidavit informing the steps taken by it to control availability of carbide in the market and number of persons prosecuted for misuse of carbide since 2015 to November 30 this year. “The government is constitutionally bound to look after the health and well being of the people”, the bench noted.
Further, it directed the health secretary to file an affidavit regarding the number of posts required to be created to ensure that the people’s health is safeguarded by the government.
The officer should not only consider the number of posts existing in neighbouring states of Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra, but should also consider the number of posts required keeping the State’s population in view and the time required for creating additional posts. Mere correspondence between TSPSC and the department is not enough, but the officers should meet and discuss the issue. Else, the Court would summon the authorities concerned, the bench cautioned.
The bench comprising Chief Justice Raghvendra Singh Chauhan and Justice A Abhishek Reddy was passing this order in a suo moto taken up PIL case based on a news item published in a vernacular daily in 2015 on rampant usage of calcium carbide for artificial ripening of fruits in both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
When the matter came up for hearing, the government counsel informed the court that there was correspondence between the TSPSC and medical and health department regarding filling vacant posts. About 36 FSO posts are still lying vacant out of the 61 posts created by the State, he added.
Not satisfied with the submissions of the government counsel, the bench directed the health secretary to file an affidavit on the issue by January 3. The bench posted the matter to January 6 for further hearing.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)