Did you know that reusing cooking oil can cause several health hazards, ranging from cardiovascular diseases to even cancer?

Kriti and Sushil Vaishnav’s startup KNP Arises uses this cooking oil to generate eco-friendly and renewable energy in the form of biodiesel.

To do this, the Delhi venture collects used cooking oil (UCO) and fats from restaurants and eateries. The resultant biodiesel produces 80% lower carbon emissions as compared to fossil fuels.

In 2019, FSSAI announced that restaurants or eateries could no longer reuse cooking oil more than three times.

This means that restaurants are required to dispose of UCO to authorised collectors.

But the direct disposal of oil into the drainage system could pollute water bodies, clog sewer systems and generate a heavy load on effluent treatment plants (ETPs).

To resolve this issue, KNP Arises provides an array of services to help factories manage their waste oils and fats.

Experts note that a litre of UCO can produce 850 to 900 ml of biodiesel, depending on the quality of the raw material used.

With their tailor-made packages for supermarkets and fast-food outlets, KNP Arises attempts to also eliminate any potential issues of dealing with waste.

So far, they claim to have collected over 3 million litres of UCO from more than 40 cities.

Hailing from Bundi district in Rajasthan, Sushil and Kirti had corporate careers spanning more than 15 years across different industries in India and abroad before establishing KNP.

“Having extensive experience in the food industry, technology and supply chain, we wanted to work towards improving the quality of street food in our cities…We wanted to make sure once our families go out to eat, they can eat without health risks,” says Sushil.

Anyone willing to dispose of UCO can place a request on their mobile application, and their operations team will connect with them to ensure “timely collection”.

Since its inception, the startup has generated a revenue of Rs 10 crore, say the founders.

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