Shenzhen gets tough on kitchen waste oil

Shenzhen has raised the fines to be imposed on people caught producing illegal oil from kitchen waste to 50,000 yuan, with tougher penalties for serious offenders.

According to the city's new regulations on kitchen waste, to be implemented from Aug 1, those who produce, process or sell oil made from kitchen waste will be fined at least 50,000 yuan ($7,854). If the illegal oil is worth more than 10,000 yuan the offenders will be fined 10 times the goods value. The previous regulations, implemented in 2007 imposed penalties between 30,000 to 100,000 yuan.

The new regulation also states Shenzhen urban management bureau is responsible for the collecting, transportation and management of kitchen waste.

The new regulation states that restaurants shall only hand kitchen waste to those enterprises that are authorized to take and handle the waste, not other enterprises or individuals.

It demands the kitchen waste collecting enterprises account for the waste and record detailed information including its amount and where it comes from. It demands waste collecting vehicles to install a driving data recorder and have their traveling information connected to the information platform of the traffic police bureau.