[Report] No Waste in Chicken Oil... Waste Cooking Oil Reborn as Fuel

On the 28th, Danseok Industry Siheung Biodiesel Plant
Uses waste cooking oil and fats from chicken shops, etc.
Produces 'Biofuel'
Utilized for diesel vehicles, aircraft, and power generation

Biodiesel manufacturing process of Danseok Industry. Photo by Danseok Industry

Smart waste cooking oil (UCO) refining process inside Danseok Industrial's Sihwa factory in Siheung, Gyeonggi Province. A 3-meter-long robotic arm continuously carries steel drums filled with waste cooking oil. It easily lifts four 18ℓ waste cooking oil drums, each weighing 16.5 kg, at once and places them into a shredder. Most of the waste cooking oil comes from leftover oil used in restaurants such as chicken shops. When the steel drums are torn apart in the shredder, the waste cooking oil is transferred to the main process through raw material pipes, and the finely shredded steel collects in a steel scrap container. The waste cooking oil undergoes refining → methanol reaction → glycerin separation → distillation processes to transform into biodiesel, which is then reintroduced to the market.

◆"Not a drop of fried chicken oil goes to waste"=Waste cooking oil is often thought of as a useless nuisance. However, Kim Jong-wan, CEO of Danseok Industrial, said that waste cooking oil is a valuable resource with nothing to discard. "During the manufacturing process, free fatty acids (FFA), which are animal fats not needed for biodiesel production, are produced and used to make 'bio heavy oil' for power generation. The glycerin separated through the methanol reaction is also sold as a raw material for cosmetics. When we bring in waste cooking oil to produce biofuel, almost no byproducts are wasted." Danseok Industrial's Sihwa factory spans 26,193㎡ (about 8,000 pyeong) and annually produces 100,000 tons of refined recovered oil, 60,000 tons of biodiesel, and 400,000 tons of bio heavy oil.

Biodiesel is an eco-friendly transportation fuel synthesized from waste cooking oil and animal and vegetable oils. It shows fuel performance similar to diesel and is used in diesel engine vehicles. Replacing 1㎘ of diesel with biodiesel reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 2.6 tons and does not produce SO₂ (sulfur dioxide), a major cause of acid rain, during fuel use. Bio heavy oil is a renewable energy source produced from biodiesel process byproducts and waste animal fats, mainly used for power generation. It also helps reduce greenhouse gases.

Kim Jong-wan, CEO of Danseok Industry, is answering reporters' questions at the Danseok Industry office in Siwha Industrial Complex, Siheung-si, Gyeonggi-do on the 28th. Photo by Danseok Industry

◆Bioenergy and waste battery businesses driving performance growth=Danseok Industrial started in 1965 as Nobel Industrial Co., focusing on PVC stabilizer business, and changed its name to Danseok Industrial in 1989. Since 2007, it has identified bioenergy as a future growth engine, obtaining domestic distribution and export certification qualifications for the U.S. and Europe, and meeting quality standards to export biofuels. Especially after COVID-19, with the surge in global eco-friendly policies and projects, the bioenergy business has begun to bear significant fruit. In 2020, it recorded sales of 588.2 billion KRW and operating profit of 24.5 billion KRW, which jumped to 883.1 billion KRW in sales and 69.7 billion KRW in operating profit in 2021. Last year, it achieved sales exceeding 1 trillion KRW (1.0996 trillion KRW) for the first time, with operating profit rising to 73.2 billion KRW. Despite this year’s economic downturn, performance growth continues. CEO Kim said, "We were concerned about this year’s performance due to the economic recession, but we performed well in the first half and expect operating profit to slightly increase compared to last year."

Danseok Industrial plans to expand its bioenergy business into HVO (hydrotreated vegetable oil) and biojet fuel, and also enter the lithium-ion battery recycling business. HVO is a next-generation biofuel produced by hydrogenation of plant-based raw materials such as waste cooking oil. By 2025, the company plans to invest 100 billion KRW to build an HVO pretreatment plant and an oil refining plant that removes impurities from plant-based raw materials like waste cooking oil and palm byproducts, targeting an annual production of 400,000 tons. After 2026, it plans to invest 550 billion KRW to expand jet fuel facilities to produce up to 200,000 tons annually.

Waste batteries are another promising new business for Danseok Industrial. In May, it broke ground on a waste battery recycling production line in the Saemangeum complex in Gunsan, Jeonbuk Province. With an investment of 9 billion KRW, it is expanding a 1,995㎡ factory to process 8,000 tons of waste batteries annually. The active materials (substances that generate electrical energy) extracted through recycling are about 5,000 tons in scale. The company plans to secure additional waste battery recycling plants overseas, including in Malaysia. Through this, it aims to expand into nickel-cobalt-manganese (NCM) precursors (substances involved in chemical reactions and intermediate materials for battery cathodes) and lithium iron phosphate (LFP) cathode material businesses.

CEO Kim stated, "Our goal is to invest a total of 1.8 trillion KRW in new businesses by 2030 and achieve sales of 5.5 trillion KRW in seven years, including existing businesses."