Crime | cooking oil Restaurants' Used Grease Draws Thieves Once scorned, it's 'become gold'; can be turned into biodiesel By Kevin Spak Posted May 30, 2008 7:40 AM CDT Copied Wesley Caddell, business developer for Blue Sky Bio-Fuels, looks at drums of cooking oils at his plant in Oakland, Calif., Monday, May 19, 2008. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma) For decades restaurants have thrown away their used cooking grease without a second thought; now, they’re trying to protect it from thieves. Almost anyone can convert the yellow grease into cheap biodiesel using kits sold on the internet, and restaurant oil bins have become go-to destinations for everyone from environmentalists to thieves who siphon tanks in the dead of the night. The grease is now traded on the commodities market, fetching almost $2.50 a gallon; some restaurants are selling it for extra revenue. “Fryer grease has become gold,” said one restaurateur. “And just over a year ago, I had to pay someone to take it away.” But grease thieves say they’re doing nothing wrong; many restaurants store the grease out by the trash, where it’s fair game. Read These Next White House makes Hegseth put his polygraph away. A new book argues the Sacagawea legend is all wrong. The NFL's heaviest player told to slim down. US denies visas to Venezuelan team bound for Little League tournament. Report an error