Making biodiesel from used cooking oil (UCO) isn’t a new idea.

But Chevron is working to find new ways to collect and refine UCO.

“We wanted to find a way to create a circular economy for UCO,” said Jason Lawrence, senior business development team lead for Chevron Renewable Energy Group. “We met with our UCO transportation partner, Restaurant Technologies, and Sheetz convenience stores to see if we could close the loop in a big way.”

Sheetz is a family-owned chain of convenience stores with locations across the Northeast United States.

It’s known for jalapeño poppers and french fries, and the chain generates a lot of UCO.

Lawrence was working with the team at Sheetz because buying biodiesel from Chevron REG aligned with Sheetz’s lower carbon-emissions goals.

They realized they could create a circular economy.

When materials are reused—kept out of a landfill and turned into a new product—that loop is called a circular economy.

How would it work here?

Restaurant Technologies would pick up the UCO from Sheetz each time they delivered fresh cooking oil.

Chevron REG would receive that UCO from Restaurant Technologies, then create biodiesel and then sell it back to Sheetz.

“There has been a tipping point over the past year where more locations are having their UCO collected,” said Diana Geseking, general counsel and ESG chair for Restaurant Technologies. “We recycle 100 percent of the UCO we collect from customers like Sheetz.”

Restaurant Technologies collects UCO from more than 37,000 commercial kitchens nationwide.

And Chevron biodiesel powers their trucks.

The Sheetz-Restaurant Technologies-Chevron partnership is an example of a circular economy—a repeatable sequence that minimizes waste and can contribute to lower lifecycle-carbon emissions.

Sheetz began selling biodiesel in Pennsylvania in 2010.

Diesel fuel sold in that state is required to contain at least 2 percent biodiesel.

Some of the benefits of this UCO collaboration include:

• UCO can be used to produce lower carbon-intensity fuels, including biodiesel, renewable diesel and a blend of the two called UltraClean BlenD™.

• These lower carbon-intensity fuels can be used in diesel engines that are on the road today—usually without modifying the engine.

• The infrastructure used to deliver traditional diesel can also be used to deliver biodiesel, renewable diesel and diesel blends. In winter, however, biodiesel may require heated tanks in some climates.

Biodiesel made from UCO is easy to deliver and use, and it can help reduce lifecycle-carbon emissions today.

“This collaboration doesn’t require customers to do anything different when they switch to a lower carbon-intensity fuel,” said Andy McConnell, a renewable fuels trader for Sheetz. “They can continue enjoying our food, fuel up their vehicle with biodiesel and have an impact without even thinking about it.”