Tokyo’s Ito-Yokado stores now offer used cooking oil recycling for households

Starting this month, Ito-Yokado is expanding its household used cooking oil recycling initiative across all its stores in Tokyo, aiming to help everyday consumers reduce food waste. The supermarket chain, a subsidiary of Seven & i Holdings, is setting up collection points at all locations in the capital by using specially designed returnable bottles for oil collection.

The initiative began as a pilot in February 2023, and has already gathered momentum. In partnership with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, Ito-Yokado has gradually expanded the number of collection points to 25 stores in the city. Nationwide, a total of 30 collection points have been established, including those at York stores, a sister chain.

Japan generates approximately 100,000 tons of household used cooking oil annually, most of which is discarded as combustible waste. However, this waste holds untapped potential. Used cooking oil can be repurposed into valuable materials such as biofuel, soap, and ink solvents. Ito-Yokado is partnering with Yoshikawa Oil to ensure the collected oil is processed for such uses. To date, the company has collected the equivalent of 5,400 returnable bottles of oil.

The company plans to extend collection points to all of its stores nationwide by 2050, with the goal of recovering 25 tons of household used cooking oil. Ito-Yokado also aims to collaborate with ENEOS Corporation to utilize the recycled oil as raw material for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), a cleaner alternative to traditional jet fuel. SAF is made from non-fossil sources like used cooking oil and can significantly reduce CO2 emissions compared to conventional fuels.