Syazwan Majid of Malaysian-based startup Arus Oil wants to stop people from clogging drains with their used cooking oil and reduce Malaysia’s reliance on non-renewable energy sources
Syazwan Majid’s idea for his company Arus Oil began as a humble neighbourhood recycling project in 2017. He established a centralised collection point for 2,000 households in Malaysia to recycle used cooking oil, paper and plastic.
Later, Syazwan and his team at Arus Oil saw that they could go further with the oil and began focusing on recycling it into biodiesel, thereby creating a renewable source of energy.
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Offering an on-demand collection service of used cooking oil to households and businesses, Arus Oil has since gathered over 250 metric tonnes of used cooking oil from more than 4,000 users. “We recognised that convenience is the biggest factor that prevents people from recycling cooking oil.”
Arus Oil currently has collection points in Selangor, Kuala Lumpur and Penang, and has plans to expand its operations to more states in Malaysia.
Syazwan shares more about his vision for Arus Oil and what it takes to build and run a sustainability startup.
Cooking oil is often disposed of improperly. People pour it down their sinks, and it can end up in our rivers and other bodies of water. When this happens, anaerobic bacteria can multiply and create carbon emissions. The layer created by the oil also blocks sunlight and prevents aquatic life from accessing oxygen.
Used cooking oil is challenging to store and transport in its liquid form. So we developed a collection system that uses smart sensors to notify us when it is nearly at full capacity. The gathered oil is then transported to a pre-treatment facility, where it is filtered and separated to assess its quality.
All used cooking oil we collected is converted into biodiesel. The renewable fuel source can be used to power industrial vehicles or machines. This recycling process helps to reduce the depletion of non-renewable energy sources.
Recycling is more important than ever. Fossil fuels power 72 percent of the world’s consumption and are non-renewable, with fuel sources such as petroleum expected to be completely used up by the year 2052.
See more honourees from the Sustainability category of the Gen.T List 2022.