Gas-guzzlers go to town on 'gutter oil'

At the Jinfeng gas station on the Shanghai-Hangzhou expressway, biodiesel has become the fuel of choice for a growing number of truck drivers. The reason is simple - the fuel is a few cents cheaper than regular diesel.

However, few of the truckers realize that the biodiesel, called B5, sold at the station comes from restaurants, and is produced from waste cooking oil collected across the city.

At a media briefing held by the Shanghai government on Sept 13, officials announced that the city had built a recycling system in which waste cooking oil - a notorious substance known as "gutter oil" - is collected, synthesized into biodiesel and sold at 40 gas stations.