Government chiefs yesterday reiterated a ban on the recycling of
used edible oil after reports that a McDonald's restaurant in
Wuhan
had sold its discarded oil for re-use.
An
official report into allegations has concluded that McDonald's
breached the ban in March when selling waste cooking oil to
peddlers, who then resold it to small restaurants.
The re-use of the oil put citizens in Wuhan, capital of central
China's Hubei
Province, at risk because it had been used repeatedly at high
temperatures.
Civic leaders acted immediately to stamp out the illegal practice,
according to the recent State Council document.
The Ministry of Health, the State General Administration of
Industry and Commerce, the State Environmental Protection
Administration and the Ministry of Construction jointly issued the
special decree under the guidance of the
State Council.
All oil discarded by food production firms and restaurants can only
be sold to special factories as raw materials for chemical products
and must not be sold to other restaurants or consumers for use in
cooking food, the decree said.
Waste oil is also prohibited from being discharged into the
environment before it has been properly treated.
According to company rules of McDonald's, every one of its
restaurants must sign an agreement with a local factory for the
collection of waste oil. Its Wuhan branch said it had signed a deal
with Wuhan Yizhihua Oil Chemical Industry Co Ltd.
But the agreement was not strictly carried out, the State Council
said.
Wang Yang, manager of the Wuhan branch of McDonald's, shouldered
responsibility for the regulations breach and has been fired.
"It is an error made by McDonald's that has been rectified, and all
waste oil is now being treated properly," said a spokeswoman for
Wuhan McDonald's Food Co Ltd yesterday.
(China
Daily April 18, 2002)