What happens to used cooking oil after a restaurant closes for the night? Join David on a visit to Clean Energy Biofuels in Monroe, Georgia, where used fryer oil and grease trap waste are transformed into renewable fuel. Along the way, we meet the welders, plant managers, engineers, and recycling experts working behind the scenes to reduce landfill waste, support restaurants, and help power a growing biofuels industry across the Southeast.

Clean Energy Biofuels Truck

Credit: cleanenergybiofuels.com

 

At Clean Energy Biofuels in Monroe, Georgia, waste is not the end of the story. Every day, trucks collect used cooking oil from restaurants across the Southeast and bring it back to a facility where it is cleaned, separated, tested, and prepared for renewable fuel production. What most people throw away becomes part of a growing effort to rethink how waste can be reused.

Host David Zelski walks through the industrial process with company president Rick Huszagh and the workers who keep the operation running. From massive steam-heated tanks to high speed tricanner separators, the facility combines engineering, chemistry, and persistence to reclaim oil and wastewater that would otherwise end up in landfills. The episode also highlights the practical side of the business, including how restaurants are paid for their used oil and how workers constantly adapt equipment to prevent theft and improve efficiency.

More than a story about biofuel, this episode explores the people behind the process. Welders repair containers damaged by thieves, plant managers test water quality and oil purity, and recycling specialists work toward what they call a “full circle” system. Together, they are building an industry focused on finding value in what others discard, one load of fryer grease at a time.

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