Illegal restaurant grease?
By bmorehouse1
@bmorehouse1 (1028)
United States
July 10, 2008 5:26pm CST
In New York bandits are illegally siphoning restaurant grease from bins and barrels and selling it for conversion to biodiesel. My question is why is it illegal to take something that is going to the trash anyway? I say these guys are being creative. Why don't the restaurants sell their grease rather than putting it in the trash? Shouldn't that be more of a concern? And then again maybe the restaurants have sold that grease and these bins and barrels are set out for someone to pick up. In which case the bandits WOULD be stealing it. I really don't know. I would think that there would be some kind of rules and regulations that requires them to get rid of the grease in a proper way. Any thoughts on this?
3 responses
@wilsongoddard (7291)
• United States
12 Jul 08
If it is not in a dumpster, it is still their property; it is not technically trash. Even if it is in a dumpster, it may still be illegal to remove it if the dumpster is located on private property.
At least, that is my understanding of how that works.
@snowy22315 (169962)
• United States
11 Jul 08
The restaurants absolutely should be selling the grease to bio diesel places. It hink lawmakers should make this a requirement for restaurants to do this. They should not be throwing grease in the trash if it can be used responsibly.
@ZephyrSun (7381)
• United States
10 Jul 08
Well it's a crime because the restaurants are actually selling it. From what I have heard they are able to make a good amount of money from this used oil/grease.
