Don't Discard Used Cooking Oil: Sustainable Ways You Can Repurpose Used Cooking

Your used cooking oil is not just a smelly waste. Do not discard your fryer oil—instead, repurpose it.

It is critical to collect used cooking oil and recycle it—to protect the environment. Used oil from the kitchen that is disposed of in the open can adversely impact the natural environment, especially if it ends up in the sewer system. But collecting the cooking oil after use is just halfway through the battle. The most important step involves figuring out how to repurpose the used cooking oil. Fortunately, there are many sustainable ways you can repurpose cooking oil at home, and the guide below can help you.

Add it to pet food or animal feed.

Used cooking oil can serve as a nutritious ingredient in animal feed for livestock or pet food. When you strip down used cooking oil and refine it, the oil provides many nutrients and calories and can be offered to animals in poultry or other livestock. You can also use this refined oil and mix it into your pet’s food. It can help enhance the flavor or keep their fur shiny and slick.​

Use it for composting.

Based on the variety of oil—it can be used for composting—in small quantities. Vegetable oil is organic, hence it is best for composting, as opposed to the other forms of oil. But if you add too much cooking at once, it might generate a foul smell and significantly slow down the process. The odor can also attract pesky pests and rodents and plague your yard.

Use it as a lubricant for locks and keys.

If your key often gets stuck in the lock, smear some cooking oil on the key to lubricate it and forbid it from sticking. Your used cooking oil can also help remove accumulated gunk from inside the lock.

Use it as a furniture conditioner and polish.

If you own wooden furniture at home but now they look scratched and dull, you can reuse cooking oil to polish them and restore the shine of the wood. You can prepare a solution by mixing equal parts of distilled white vinegar and used cooking oil—and apply it on your wooden furniture to polish them.

Car cleaning agent

You can reuse cooking oil to clean dirt and grime from your car’s surface. Pour some used cooking oil on a towel or rag and apply it to the area you want to clean. The used oil will help remove the sticky substance or dirt from the car’s surface.

Before disposing of the used cooking oil, think if you can put it to better use.