
Media Release
April 17, 2007
Media Contacts:
Rosann Doran
Public Information Officer
303.438.6308
New recycling program in time for Earth Day!
Broomfield now accepts used cooking oil
Those cooking shows make it look so easy…
You just deep-fried your turkey and now you have several gallons of cooking oil that you don’t know what to do with. Good news! Now you can recycle it by taking it to Broomfield’s Waste Oil Collection Program at the Norman Smith Service Center at 3001 W. 124th Avenue.
The city’s Waste Motor Oil Collection Program has been expanded to include a separate drop-off for the collection and recycling of cooking oil.
Waste cooking oil has proven to be quite a problem. Becky Sturgeon, pretreatment coordinator with Broomfield’s Wastewater Reclamation Division, said “Cooking oil should never be poured down the drain of your kitchen sink or into the toilet. Fats, oil and grease can clog the sanitary sewer system, and cause costly and unpleasant sewer backups.”
Cooking oil should not be dumped into the trash either. Solid waste landfill regulations strictly prohibit any liquid wastes because they can contribute to groundwater contamination.
Broomfield is partnering with Rocky Mountain Sustainable Enterprises (RMSE), a company in Loveland, to receive the collected cooking oil and recycle it into biodiesel fuel. Biodiesel is a fuel that can be used in any standard diesel burning engine.
This renewable fuel is often blended with petroleum-based diesel. The most common blend is known as B20, containing 20 percent vegetable oil (from sources such as used cooking oil) and 80 percent petroleum-based diesel.
“The new cooking oil recycling program will be co-located with the waste motor oil drop-site at the Norman Smith Service Center. This new program solves a waste disposal problem for residents, reduces a sewer collection system problem and avoids a landfill contamination problem,” said Kathy Schnoor, environmental services superintendent, “and recycling cooking oil into biodiesel fuel also helps to lessen our dependency on petroleum. Broomfield residents pride themselves on being environmentally conscious, and Broomfield is listening. We’re working to implement new recycling programs to help preserve and protect our environment.”
Broomfield residents are welcome to bring their used cooking oil to the Norman Smith Service Center Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. or the first Saturday of each month, unless there is a holiday. Please call ahead for schedule changes due to holidays. Cooking oil should be placed in a plastic jug with a lid for transport. It will be necessary for those bringing oil to take back their empty containers for recycling or disposal.
Cooking oil should not be mixed with any other liquid including used motor oil, which will continue to be accepted for recycling at the same times and location. If the two different oils are mixed, it will render them both non-recyclable.
For more information, please call the Environmental Services Division at 303-438-6329.