STEALING USED GREASE.

STEALING USED GREASE. I have posted here about the theft of the first cast iron building in New York City to resell the cast iron as scrap and here about the burning down of buildings in Saint Louis, Cleveland and Detroit in order to steal the bricks and resell them. The Wall Street Journal (April 2) had an article by Ben Worthen about organized grease-poaching gangs. The prices for used cooking oil (the price varies with quality) have doubled in recent years. Recently, restaurants used to pay to have grease hauled away. The increase in prices has come from the increased use of biodiesel. The article describes foot soldiers that gangs use to steal from restaurants and surveillance videos that used to foil the thieves. A smell of French fries can be a clue. It’s good to see that this market for recycling has developed.