In a report for CNN’s Eco SolutionsAnna Stewart explores how Egyptian company Tagaddod is producing biofuels using recycled cooking oil collected from households around the country.

According to the OECD, throughout a year the average human consumes around 20kg of vegetable oil. In Egypt, this number is even higher. Once used, most cooking oil is discarded. Cairo-based startup Tagaddod is recycling this waste oil to produce biofuel, a low-carbon alternative source of energy.

CEO Nour El Assal founded the company in 2013. He tells CNN about how Tagaddod is simplifying the methods of collecting cooking oil, “We are enabling waste collection through technology, through creating an Uber-like platform that connects collectors with households.”

Using the app, customers can arrange for their used oil to be collected and exchanged for new bottles. Assal says that this makes the process more profitable and eco-friendly as well, “We currently process thousands of orders on a daily basis that are coming from different parts of Egypt. So, we think that there’s a huge impact that is done on the environmental level.”

Assal plans to expand the business across the Middle East and North Africa. He speaks about the impact he hopes it will have on Egypt and the wider region, “I think biofuels can be used here in Egypt in the very near future, mainly to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions and to be able to be part of the climate change movement.”

See more from CNN’s Eco Solutions:

https://edition.cnn.com/specials/world/eco-solutions

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