Hot commodity: Thieves acquire taste for used cooking oil

CTV news (Canada)
RICHARD BLACKWELL - The Globe and Mail

In the dark of night, thieves sneak into the alley behind a restaurant in one of Canada’s biggest cities. They back up a pickup truck and in a few minutes have made off with a tank full of a hot commodity – used cooking oil.

The theft of used oil and grease has become a big problem in Canada, mirroring a trend south of the border.

The price of “yellow grease” – what kitchen oil is called after it has been cleaned and refined – has tripled in the past few years, partly because of growth in the biofuels industry. Yellow grease is now a key feedstock in the production of biodiesel, which federal rules say must make up 2 per cent of all diesel sold in Canada from now on.

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