Turn your cooking oil into biofuel research at the Gobble Grease Toss

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 19, 2024) — Lexington residents can help advance biofuel research at the University of Kentucky by recycling used cooking oil at the 15th annual Gobble Grease Toss.

The event will be 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Nov. 29, at Redwood Cooperative School, 166 Crestwood Drive in Lexington.

Cooking oil should never be poured down sink drains, as it can clog pipes in both your home and the sewer system. This event helps recycle hundreds of gallons of cooking oil.

Residents can bring cooking and vegetable oil only (no food or motor oil) in a disposable, hard-sided container with a lid to prevent spills. Do not bring cooking oil in a bag.

What’s collected will be used for biofuel research through a community partnership with the UK Center for Applied Energy Research (CAER), Kelley Green Biofuel, Redwood Cooperative School and the City of Lexington.

“We at CAER are excited for this opportunity to connect our community to our research, which is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. This is a simple yet impactful way to help advance biofuel research and solutions for cleaner, renewable energy,” said Eduardo Santillan-Jimenez, Ph.D., associate director of CAER’s Sustainable and Alternative Fuels group and adjunct assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry in the UK College of Arts and Sciences.

The Gobble Grease Toss would not be possible without the work of students and families at Redwood Cooperative School, who are looking forward to co-hosting the event for the ninth year.

“Our students are always excited to help with the Gobble Grease Toss,” said Sarah Cummins, head of Redwood. “Some of them started helping in kindergarten and are now in middle school. They see year after year how our choices have an impact on the environment and their future, and we enjoy witnessing the capacity they have for sharing that knowledge with the greater community. Our students are happy to help everyone be a little greener this holiday season.”

The Gobble Grease Toss is free for all Fayette County residents (no businesses). Please have your disposable, hard-sided container in your trunk. Remain in your car and a volunteer will remove the oil for you.

If you cannot make it to the Gobble Grease Toss, you can properly dispose of cooking oil by hardening it in the refrigerator and placing it in your trash.

For more information on the Gobble Grease Toss, call LexCall at 3-1-1 or 859-425-2255 or visit www.LexingtonKY.gov/GobbleGreaseToss.

This material is based upon work supported by the Department of Energy under Award Number DE-EE0010447. This report was prepared as an account of work sponsored by an agency of the United States Government. Neither the United States Government nor any agency thereof, nor any of their employees, makes any warranty, express or implied, or assumes any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any information, apparatus, product, or process disclosed, or represents that its use would not infringe privately owned rights. Reference herein to any specific commercial product, process, or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise does not necessarily constitute or imply its endorsement, recommendation, or favoring by the United States Government or any agency thereof. The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the United States Government or any agency thereof.