From Waste to Fuel: Powering Biodiesel, Renewable Diesel and SAF

Jimmy Andreoli II
2 hours ago
6 min read

The rendering industry is the infrastructure that makes large-scale waste-to-fuel conversion possible.

Every day, at hundreds of thousands of restaurants, commercial kitchens and grocery stores, an essential resource is generated that most people throw away without even thinking about it: used cooking oil (UCO), grease and fat trimmings that can be used to create renewable fuels.

At first glance, these materials may seem like ordinary waste. In reality, they are part of a distributed domestic energy supply chain that is already operating in every community across the country providing environmental and economic benefits while simultaneously supporting consumers and national fuel security.

For nearly 100 years, Baker Commodities and the rendering industry have been quietly building the infrastructure that supports the renewable fuels industry, creating energy from what America had for dinner last night.

By converting UCO, grease and inedible animal byproducts into feedstocks for advanced biofuels like biodiesel, renewable diesel and sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), renderers form the backbone of a supply chain that works in conjunction with the food supply instead of cannibalizing it.

And while demand for renewable fuels continues to grow, the most important question is not how much fuel can be produced, but rather where will the feedstocks come from and is the infrastructure behind them strong enough to support long-term growth?

Behind-the-Scenes Infrastructure for Renewable Fuels

While policymakers, investors and the press will focus on the refining process and end products, the infrastructure to collect feedstocks for renewable fuels is often overlooked.

Maintaining a predictable refining process means maintaining the availability of consistent, spec-ready feedstocks. But producers should understand this necessary part of the supply chain rather than assuming the collection of UCO and grease will always be able to provide what’s required at scale.

Fortunately, policymakers are beginning to recognize the importance of waste-based feedstocks, which contribute to a circular economy while supporting numerous other economic sectors.

Designed to incentivize domestic biofuels producers to make fuels with the lowest carbon emissions possible, policies like the section 45Z clean fuel production credit create tax incentives that privilege the use of waste-based domestic feedstocks including UCO and tallow because of their exceptionally low carbon-intensity (CI) scores. And recent changes to state-level incentives, like California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard, prioritize waste-based feedstocks citing concerns that the wrong tax incentives could push farmers to plant crops for fuel instead of for food.

While the consumption of food will continue as long as people inhabit the Earth, creating a steady supply of UCO, grease and recovered fats that can be collected and repurposed, the availability of cheap, crop-based virgin feedstocks is less certain—not to mention the effect those feedstocks can have on the food supply.

The Food Vs. Fuel Debate

Epitomizing that concern, one of the most often-heard debates in the renewable fuel industry is the “food vs. fuel” debate. Waste-based feedstocks are the only segment of the renewable fuels landscape that sidesteps this altogether.

UCO, grease and animal byproducts have no effect on the food supply, while virgin-oil feedstocks can come with public-relations trade-offs including land use, crop allocation and price pressures that can ripple across the food supply.

By contrast, UCO and recovered fats are already part of a completed lifecycle. They’ve been produced and consumed so, without this process, they would otherwise be discarded. Redirecting them into fuel production doesn’t displace food—instead, it adds value to something that already exists while helping prevent carbon and greenhouse-gas emissions that could result from sending these materials to a landfill.

In policy discussions, rendering offers a clear path to expanding renewable fuel production without triggering the same concerns tied to food supply and agricultural needs. In the public conversation, it’s a straightforward story: turning waste into energy without taking anything off the table.

How the Rendering Industry Collects Feedstocks

While most readers of Biobased Diesel® understand feedstocks, the infrastructure and resources needed to produce them reliably at scale is less well known.

The collection of UCO, grease waste and fat trimming takes constant coordination with restaurants, butchers, grocery stores, farmers and other commercial kitchens. Each of these generates different types of fats, oils and greases with varying volumes, quality and collection needs. Managing this variability requires both operational expertise and deep experience in handling different types of waste.

Additionally, personnel and labor resources are in constant demand so they can physically visit these locations to collect the waste material.

Once these materials are collected, they are upcycled into consistent, specification-ready feedstocks that can be used in the refining process. According to the California Air Resources Board, UCO is considered one of the lowest CI feedstocks available, often falling below 20 gCO2e/MJ depending on processing and transportation inputs, when compared to petroleum diesel at over 90. At Baker, we strive to recycle feedstocks to provide the best and lowest impact to our environment.

The infrastructure needed to make this happen was built over decades and has no replacement system. It represents years of investment, operational knowledge and a physical presence in local markets. From marketing activities to fielding calls to scheduling pickups, this complex and wide-reaching network is in constant motion. All of this happens while managing a waste stream that might otherwise end up in sewers or landfills and is instead turned into a valuable resource.

Domestic Rendering Infrastructure, Energy Security

As supply chains undergo increasing scrutiny, and domestic energy independence becomes a policy requirement, rendering networks are a strategic national asset that doesn’t get enough attention.

UCO and recovered fats are generated, collected and processed domestically. This happens in every city and town in the country and creates an intrinsically resilient supply chain that is less prone to shocks and bottlenecks.

This distributed, local network is a major advantage. Unlike feedstock categories that rely on imports, recovered fats and oils are a byproduct of everyday domestic activity. This makes the supply more stable, more predictable and less exposed to geopolitical changes.

Policymakers who are focused on energy security should look closely at the rendering infrastructure as it’s as equally important as refining capacity and pipeline networks.

Additionally, domestic sourcing means that supply-chain emissions are minimized when compared to other sources of fuel often shipped from across the world.

Environmental Benefits of Rendering

On the environmental side, rendering provides three connected benefits. First, it keeps fats, oils and grease out of local wastewater systems where they can cause real damage. Grease blockages in the sewer systems frequently rupture pipes and drive maintenance costs up. Greases at wastewater-treatment plants cause problems for the treatment process and can create environmental issues downstream when they are discharged. That’s one of the reasons why the U.S. EPA actively pushes wastewater operators to enforce stricter collection of grease and fats prior to entering sewer systems at all.

Second, rendering turns waste into valuable commodities. We upcycle these materials into usable feedstocks like tallow, yellow grease and brown grease. On the other hand, sending these items to the landfill only serves to move the problem while wasting inputs that could have been used.

Third, rendering helps reduce carbon and greenhouse gases by preventing organic decomposition in landfills and by supplying some of the lowest-CI feedstocks available today.

If the goal is to lower lifecycle emissions, rendering is one of the most practical tools already in place.

Rendering Is Essential to the Growth of Renewable Fuels

As the renewable fuels industry continues to grow, it is essential that the rendering industry continues to grow with it. Policymakers, investors and the press have an opportunity to help ensure the availability of waste-based feedstocks for biodiesel, renewable diesel and SAF is met.

The rendering industry is the infrastructure that makes large-scale waste-to-fuel conversion possible. The more support, investment and incentives that can be poured into the industry, the better the U.S. will be positioned for energy independence.

This industry was built on the understanding that waste is a resource. The next step is to ensure the systems that collect and process waste receive the attention and investment needed to grow and continue producing at scale. In doing so, we will be able to further support the domestic economy, national security and the environment.

Recognizing rendering infrastructure as a strategic asset will help the U.S. strengthen renewable fuel production, reduce dependence on imported feedstocks, protect local communities from waste burdens and turn everyday domestic byproducts into a long-term energy advantage.