A pioneering environmental programme in Cyprus is transforming used cooking oil into biofuel by enlisting schoolchildren as collection agents, achieving strides in tackling waste management.
The “Tiganokinisi” (frying pan) initiative, which became part of Cyprus’s national curriculum in 2018, reaches more than 80,000 schoolchildren annually through a mobile science laboratory that visits schools across the island.
Students collect used cooking oil from their homes, which is then filtered and converted into biodiesel, addressing a global waste problem that leads to clogged drains, landfill fires and water contamination.
“We came up with this concept where the schools become hubs of collection,” Xenia Loizidou, chair of the AKTI Project and Research Centre, the environmental NGO coordinating the programme, told Reuters.
The initiative has captured approximately 10% of Cyprus’s estimated 2,000 tonnes of annual domestic cooking oil waste, according to Loizidou.https://www.youtube.com/embed/FNpbMFAGgig?si=wwJalm2PtmKH_Zmv
Schools receive funding based on their oil contributions, with students having input on how the money is spent on environmental projects. The programme has distributed more than 500,000 euros to participating schools since its inception.
U.S. energy company Chevron began fully funding the programme’s mobile laboratory in 2021, which has visited more than 500 schools.
The project has gained international recognition, receiving awards from the European Commission for social innovation and from GENE (Global Education Network Europe) for excellence in global education.https://www.youtube.com/embed/aVMSurD-1fs?si=b7LDgs3dzidO6-a0