Householders's behaviour is a crucial factor in the used cooking oil collection chain. Thus it is important to identify the most appropriate household UCO collection method in the perspective of the householders that generate used oil, and to identify the psychosocial factors that can function as barriers or facilitators to this collection.
RecOil project developed a survey on Greece, Italy, Portugal and Spain and interviewed the cookers of 877 households with the aim to build a behavior profile regarding used oil disposal. Interviewees were mainly women (83,6%) between 38-54 years old (95%). Only a fifth of respondents have a Used Cooking Oil (UCO) Recycling System operating at the place they live.
Households use on average 2,5 liters of oil per month. Nearly half of them storages the oil for reuse (58%) and most of these people eliminate residues of the oil (48%). Used Cooking oil is mainly storage on glass or plastic bottles (by 55,7% of people who reuse the oil), with an average capacity of 1,5 liters. People mainly dispose the used oil once a month.
Figure 1 – UCO Disposal Frequency
It is important to notice that people who have a UCO collection system on their area are more prone to reuse and filter the oil than people who do not have such system and are less willing to dispose oil on sewage.
Figure 2 – UCO Disposal Preferences
People prefer a UCO collection system with disposal facilities on the public space, and are more prone to participate if the system is easy and practical (38,4%). Facilities should be well managed and clean, and a common identity for UCO collection system across the country should be developed. Domestic users demands information about where disposal facilities are located and practical description about how to dispose UCO, as well as information on UCO uses and environmental benefits. Social media such as TV, radio or newspapers are preferred for spreading the messages.
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Source: Factor Social
