Organized Criminals are Stealing Restaurant Cooking Oil to Make Diesel Fuel
Here’s a riddle for you: Why would organized crime gangs bother nabbing dirty, used cooking oil from restaurant dumpsters? To make diesel fuel, of course!
Normally, individuals and even businesses set up filtration systems to turn this used cooking oil into a fuel for modified diesel vehicles. In the U.S. The result is called biodiesel.
The BBC reports that between April and October 2025, businesses in Scotland reported 178 restaurant cooking oil thefts. There may have been additional thefts that went unnoticed.
Biodiesel: hippy hobby to criminal empire
I’ve seen biodiesel businesses selling their fuel for as much as $1 a gallon. So it makes sense that criminals might want in on the racket. And it’s easy to supply your business when overly-trusting restaurants often leave containers by the dumpster for biodiesel enthusiasts they have an arrangement with. The restaurants, after all, aren’t charging anyone to take their “trash.” So why would they suspect someone would steal it?
I remember early in the biodiesel movement in Vermont, a few folks had converted old cars or trucks and had all the fuel (restaurant oil) they could carry home. After just a few years, most restaurants’ supplies were spoken for. But this latest development in Scotland is quite the twist.
In the U.K., diesel fuel can cost over $7 USD per gallon. So with lower prices in the U.S., will criminals get involved in the biodiesel industry? We may have to wait and see.
