China Using GPS Tracking Devices to Combat Food Waste and Gutter Oil
17 Sep 2013Food waste in China is improved by using GPS tracking devices on waste collection trucks.
In China, the oil sold and used for residential cooking and in restaurants and hotels is a major concern. Here lies the rub: the waste that should be in the garbage is collected and turned into gutter oil.
Gutter oil is an illicit form of recycled cooking oil, which is illegally gathered by collecting waste, including as oil waste from factories, restaurants, canteens and sewage facilities. It also comes from restaurant fryers and grease traps. It is reprocessed, packaged and resold more cheaply as normal cooking oil, offering profits to its manufacturers.
It is estimated that 10 percent of China’s cooking oil is gutter oil. Because wok-style cooking is so popular in China, cooking oil is a hot commodity.
The Problem with Gutter Oil
The problem is that gutter oil is unhealthy and toxic– and illegal in China. It can cause abdominal pain and diarrhea. What’s worse, there’s a concern that it may be linked to liver cancer, in addition to developmental problems in newborn babies and children.
Because it is a growing concern, the city of Wuhan has developed a new system for monitoring all waste on waste collection trucks. It is using GPS tracking devices, along with a digital weighing device, to reduce how often gutter oil is made from collected waste.
The purpose of the GPS tracking devices is to record the weight data of waste collection trucks and garbage cans, and measure it to ensure nothing was removed from the trucks. China’s not the first country, however, to use GPS tracking technology to track trash; waste management companies have been benefitting from using GPS fleet tracking technology for years.
“We can clearly know what the vehicles are doing, how much food waste is loaded or uploaded, and can track the vehicles with a click of a mouse in the office,” said Chen Jian, director of construction for the Wuhan Urban Management Bureau.
In December 2013, a new legislation will mandate the processing of kitchen waste. This regulation defines gutter oil, and oil collected from sewage facilities, kitchen ventilators and oil and water separators. Not only is the monitoring to take place in the city of Wuhan, but also in the capital city of Hubei. Edible oil waste, scrap materials and food leftovers are all going to be monitored.
Any restaurant that is larger than 90 square meters will need to have this new monitoring system. This includes restaurants, canteens, beverage outlets and food processing or production factories. Each district of Hubei will have a company set up to collect and transport waste, whereas each of their tracks has the GPS monitoring and weighing device installed. If the Wuhan Urban Management Bureau finds anyone in violation of their terms, they will be fined.
Approximately 621 vehicles that will be using GPS tracking technology and weighing devices. The technology will allow authorities to know what the weight is during each stop of the waste collection system. If, at the end of the shift, the weight is less than it should be according to their calculations, they are able to track exactly where the weight shifted — and find out which company is responsible for collected food waste illegally for the use of gutter oil.
Once this system is put into place, the data collected will be stored for up to two years. More serious consequences will be enforced if companies or individuals are caught multiple times.
The gutter oil crackdown is just one aspect of a larger effort to help improve China’s continuing worries on food safety.
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