More and more cooking oil is being recycled, Slovnaft collected more than 29 tons in half a year

• Collection containers are currently available at 162 Slovnaft petrol stations and at three additional locations
• Most of the oil was collected by residents in Bratislava
• The petrol station which collected a record amount of oil is located in Pezinok

BRATISLAVA, August 20, 2018 - The popularity of recycling in Slovakia is increasing, as evidenced by almost doubling year-to-year the collected quantity of used cooking oil as part of the project “Every drop of oil counts”. Through this project Slovnaft collected used cooking oil at 162 petrol stations and three other collection points. This oil is then transferred to the company Meroco, where after cleaning it is used to produce a biofuel component for diesel fuel. In the first half of 2018, the Slovaks handed over 29,000 kilograms of used cooking oil at Slovnaft's collection points.

Compared to the same period last year, the volume of collected used oil has increased to almost double the volume. While in the first half of 2017 the volume of collected oil in the containers marked with the logo “Every drop of oil counts” was 14,900 kilograms of oil, this year it was more than 29,000 kilograms. Used cooking oil can be delivered to 162 Slovnaft petrol stations all over Slovakia, as well as to three other collection points located in Vlčie hrdlo in Bratislava, the Old Market in the centre of the capital and the refinery terminal in Kľačany. Thus, for each individual collection point, there is almost 180 kilograms of oil.

Most of the oil was collected in Bratislava, where Slovnaft has been providing the service for the longest period of time. The citizens of Bratislava are allowed to hand over their oil at 24 petrol stations. In the first half of 2018, these stations collected more than 6.3 tons, which is more than a fifth of all the oil collected. The petrol station with the record amount of oil in the first half of the year is located in Pezinok on Myslenická Street, which has offered an oil collection service since the autumn of 2015. People from Pezinok brought here more than 1.3 tons of oil over the first six months of the year.

The possibility to dispose of used cooking oil from households is currently offered by almost three quarters of all Slovnaft petrol stations. “We are trying to get this service as close as possible to people, so we are assessing every single petrol station and whether it meets the requirements for storing used cooking oil. In cooperation with our partner company Meroco, we will also be able to expand our network of collection points within petrol stations to cities and municipalities where oil is not yet collected” says Anton Molnár, Director of Business and Marketing Communication at SLOVNAFT, a.s.

The used cooking oil is further processed. After cleaning, it is used to produce a biofuel component for diesel fuel. From one litre of cooking oil we are able to produce up to 0.9 litres of biofuel component. Any vegetable oil with the exception of coconut, which solidifies at room temperature, is suitable for collection. It is important to collect such oil in a clean and dry plastic bottle or the original packaging without any food residue, to pour it through a sieve and hand the bottle to the assistant at the petrol station. For every decilitre of delivered oil, Slovnaft's customers will earn one point for the loyalty BONUS Club.

The environmentally orientated project “Every drop of oil counts” was launched by Slovnaft in 2011. Since then this service has expanded from the initial 10 petrol stations to the current 162. Over the course of seven years, more than 94 tonnes of oil have been collected and recycled. Matej Sabol, CEO of Envien Group which Meroco is a part of, adds: “As a biofuel producer, we feel social responsibility and we are interested in solving problems that can cause the inappropriate disposal of used cooking oil. Instead of the oil being put down the kitchen sink and thus burdening the environment or causing problems with pipes and other problems in waste water treatment plants, it will be recycled and used for biofuel production. This is added to diesel fuel, which significantly reduces the amount of CO2 in the exhaust gasses. CO2 has a major and negative impact on climate change, which is a hot topic of global concern for us all. Simply put - from problematic waste in the form of used cooking oil, we can produce a useful product in the form of an ecological fuel.”