Composting vegetable oil.

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Odders

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Composting vegetable oil.
« on: September 22, 2024, 19:33 »
Has anyone done it?
I've just emptied the fryer & there's best part of 3 litres of old oil & I was thinking of adding a bit each time I put in a decent amount of composting material.
A search on Google brings up the usual mix between 'yeah it's fine' & 'aargh no, you'll destroy the planet!!!' & everything in between but zero empirical evidence or scientific studies that I can see.
It'd be no more than 6 litres annually & split across probably two fills of a 1.7m³ bay & three of a 0.8m³ bay, so not exactly drowning my material in oil.

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wolveryeti

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Re: Composting vegetable oil.
« Reply #1 on: September 23, 2024, 12:33 »
I wouldnt do it personally - will just degrade oxygen permeability of your heap so it will break down slower. Oils are also basically long chain hydrocarbons so not clear what you are breaking down for the plant that it cant synthesise itself....

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missmoneypenny

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Re: Composting vegetable oil.
« Reply #2 on: September 23, 2024, 17:26 »
I can’t see that working. Surely it will create a water proof barrier between the vegetable matter and decomposers, and slow down the composting process. Not to mention the mess. I take mine to my recycling centre, they collect cooking oil.

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Harry998

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Re: Composting vegetable oil.
« Reply #3 on: September 29, 2024, 14:12 »
You will be fine in bins that size so long as you spread it out.
We compost everything remotely organic including cooking oil and don't have any problems so long as there are no big areas of one material

You would be surprised how quickly most oils go rancid if they left exposed to air

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Subversive_plot

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Re: Composting vegetable oil.
« Reply #4 on: September 30, 2024, 10:26 »
I think the oil would break down eventually, but question what you would gain by adding it to compost.  Looking at nutrition content on the label of a bottle of vegetable oil, there is some carbon in it, but no protein (therefore no nitrogen), no potassium. I can't comment on phosphorous, not on the label. Decomposition requires a certain carbon-to-nitrogen ratio, too much carbon relative to nitrogen will slow decompositon.
"Somewhere between right and wrong, there is a garden. I will meet you there."~ Rumi


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