China has a gutter oil problem, and it is not going away. The market for gutter oil—cooking oil made from restaurant waste and the scrapings of gutters and sewers that is being mass-produced in China—is thriving.
The disgusting recycling process is intricate. Restaurants sell their waste to pig farms. There, it is boiled. The floating oil at the top is sold to small oil collectors and the solid residue is used as pig feed. The small oil collectors sell the waste oil to large oil collectors, who then sell it to refineries. Refineries process the oil product and peddle it back to restaurants and supermarkets.
Gutter oil is prevalent across many industries and tiers of society in China. Not only small restaurants and roadside food stands use it, gutter oil has been found also in Chinese government cafeterias and in products of a major pharmaceutical company in China.
Considering the fact that China has captured over 90 percent of the vitamin C market in the United States, this is an alarming fact.
Radio Free Asia followed the process of making gutter oil. Watch the video. Share this article with your friends.
