Jersey City launches program recycling restaurant cooking oil into fuel

Monday, February 28, 2011
By VISHAL PERSAUD
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER

Jersey City is going green with a new citywide cooking oil program.

The program - a partnership between the Jersey City Economic Development Corporation and Grease Lightning, a company that specializes in cooking oil recycling - has already recruited nearly 60 businesses to participate.

Under the program, Grease Lightning would collect used cooking oil from local restaurants and pay the businesses 10 cents for each gallon collected. Most of the restaurants currently pay to have various companies collect their used cooking oil.

Some restaurants like Helen's Pizza on Newark Avenue used to pay up to $15 a barrel for other recycling companies to come and pick up their grease.

"When you don't have to pay to pick up the grease, that's a benefit right there," said Steven Kalcanides, owner of Helen's Pizza.

Joseph Castro, owner of Bar Majestic on Grove Street in Downtown Jersey City, agrees.

"We're getting a check for something that we basically wouldn't be using again," he said.

Grease Lightning provides the restaurants with containers for their grease. The recycled oil is sent to local refineries for conversion into bio-diesel fuel, a diesel fuel substitute, officials said.

The partnership began when a representative of Grease Lightning proposed the idea to the JCEDC.

The money and convenience from the recycling program is just one of the ways to help those businesses, said Lauren Hall, the agency's director of tourism.

"It would certainly impact small through large businesses in that they can reap a financial benefit as well as contribute to the overall sustainability of the city and the planet," said Steve Lipski, executive director of the development corporation.