Arus Oil

About Us

About Us

Arus Oil (MyProtech Sdn. Bhd.) (MPOB License - 619709017000) started as a pilot project for the middle-class in the SS14 community. Since 2017, residents of SS14 have been disposing of their used cooking oil (UCO) in a collection drum at the park nearby. This project was organised in collaboration with Kawasan Rukun Tetangga (KRT). The survey shows that most of the family households in SS14 cook frequently. Thus, the idea of recycled used cooking oil from the household segment was born.

Being one of our main product activities, the collection of used cooking oil allowed us to process the UCO and sell it to major biodiesel players. Cooking oil is typically a plant or animal liquid fat used for frying and other types of cooking.  When used for a long time, oil would turn rancid and may give a bad smell and taste to food. Large number of cases happen whereby businesses and restaurants would reused cooking oil until it deplete.

Although the public opinion on UCO is that it should be thrown away, it is an important source of raw material to produce biodiesel. Being the market leader in collection of UCO in parts of the Klang Valley, we decided to expand out to households and communities for collection as well.

Our partnership with Shell has allowed us to encourage consumers to recycle their UCO by making recycling as accessible and simple as possible. This is made possible by having Shell’s petrol station serving as collection points between the consumers and Arus. This initiative aims to raise awareness on the detrimental effects of pouring away UCO while educating consumers on what they can do to reduce wastage.

The Used Cooking Oil Recycling industry was established in Malaysia since the early 2010s. F&B chains as well as hotel business owners saw it as a means to regain back margins by recycling their waste (UCO). Since the inception, the industry has grown into a billion-ringgit industry. However, latest data shows that Malaysia is only collecting 45-50% of the total capacity (according to volume of cooking oil poured into the domestic market and volume collected back as waste). Hence the simple question of where is the rest? The reality check shows that most of us generally either throw it down the sink, or reuse the oil endlessly till it solidifies which are both environmental and health risks. Hence the Arus Oil platform was created to bridge the gap of collections and households in a simple, convenient and transparent method.

Problems

Problems

The use of biogas can help reduce methane and carbon emissions while producing cleaner fuel for cooking, lighting and electricity. As an alternative to fossil fuels for household energy, biodiesel could help slow climate change , improve global health, increase energy access and improve people's lives. However, the production of alternative sources of energy such as biodiesel is still not prevalent on the global scale.

Studies have shown that fossil fuel is estimated to be depleted in 2052. We at Arus Oil believe recycling used cooking oil could significantly show down the depletion of non-renewable energy and pivot to using biodiesel. Furthermore, recycling of the product would reduce mishandling and mismanagement of UCO that results in environmental destruction that contributes to the global climate crisis.

Although with the help of government campaigns to promote the use of biodiesel, the process of making these biogas depends highly on feedstock collection. Future European demand estimates show a potential strong increase in UCO consumption to 6.1 to 6.4 Mton/ year in 2030, in a scenario whereby UCO achieves a 1.7 share in the European transport fuel industry. ( 1.7% is the maximum capacity set). This demand would exceed the estimate of UCO supply potential for Europe of 3.1-3.3 Mton/year significantly. 

How do we improve the supply of UCO in Malaysia to Europe? Lacking behind only China and Indonesia in terms of UCO supplied, Malaysia possesses one of the highest quality of UCO exported due to the lack of gutter oil in its UCO blend. 

The table above shows the main drivers and barriers for UCO collection in Malaysia. Arus Oil is the pioneer to explore collection of UCO from households as we realized collections from restaurants have been saturated with multiple big players fighting for UCO collection rights. Although we do collection in restaurants as well, we are trying to pivot to collection of households as we believe that consumers do also want to recycle their cooking oil but lack the awareness of such a program that helps to do that.

A distinction can be made between the two main sectors of origin of UCO; the professional sector and the households. The professional sector consists of two main industries where UCO is produced, namely the food- processing industry and restaurants. Collections from these are generally easier and less costly to perform than households because they become available in larger quantities at fewer locations. As a result, UCO collection in the professional sector is currently more developed and practiced than collection from households. 

There are three types of collection system for UCO in placed for households : 

1. Decentralised: This is where UCO is collected door to door. At times you might see an informal collector driving a lorry going around neighborhoods to collect UCO while blasting a loudspeaker for some advertising 
2. Centralised: Citizens must bring their UCO to a public collection point, which could be located at a large, commercial area such as petrol stations, parking lots and municipal buildings. This is the most popular type of collection system due to the lower operating costs.
3. Combined: A combination of both decentralised and centralised systems.

In general, the extent to which UCO is collected is determined by profitability and regulations. Restaurants and households can be paid for their UCO by collectors. If UCO prices are high enough, this may incentivise restaurants to generate more liters of UCO instead of making gutter oil. However, on the other hand, if restaurants and households need to pay for UCO collection or inconvenience them, they might dump it into the environment or sewage, damaging nature and the sewage systems.

Opportunities

Opportunities

To address these issues, Arus Oil has:

• Ease the collection of UCO with the click of a button with the development of a mobile application
• Working with NGO’s and charities to contribute to the community
• Deliver awareness and tackle social issues among Malaysians
• Provide a form of supplementary income to the underprivileged by providing cashbacks when recycling their used cooking oil 
• Inform users clearly how much they could earn from recycling their Used Cooking Oil