Waste Oils Turned into Traditional Soap

Transforming Waste Oils into Eco-Friendly Castile Soap Entrepreneur Merve Özkorkmaz converts waste oils into castile soap, creating a product that is 100 percent biodegradable in nature while also reducing packaging waste. Turkey consumes approximately 1.5 million tons of vegetable oil annually, of which roughly 350,000 tons becomes waste oil. Only about 5 percent of vegetable waste oils are collected for recycling purposes, while the remaining 95 percent is released into the environment in an uncontrolled manner. Waste oil recovery and advanced recycling is of major importance for environmental protection.

Özkorkmaz said she began manufacturing natural cosmetic and cleaning products at home four years ago and later continued production at a facility she established. She elaborated as follows:

"Initially, I started making castile soap using high-quality virgin olive oils. Later, I thought this could be a way to transform waste oils. I learned that some specialized companies collect waste oils and convert them to generator fuel using certain chemicals. Ultimately, this still powers motor vehicles like fossil fuels and releases carbon emissions when burned, resulting in a high carbon footprint. Just as plastic waste is burned when it cannot be recycled, releasing toxic gases, oils similarly release toxic gases into the air both when they mix with water through drains and when burned to power an engine. In fact, this is recycling because waste helps something else function, but it is possible to make this more environmentally friendly by converting it into a product like castile soap."  

"Any type of oil can be converted into castile soap"

Özkorkmaz emphasized that since she did not know exactly what was in the waste frying oils she collected, she developed an average formula after hundreds of experiments, thereby successfully making castile soap with a wide variety of oils. She continued: "If we make castile soap from the waste oils coming from our kitchens, we free ourselves both from the non-recyclable plastic packaging of detergents entering our homes and from the harm these detergents cause to us and living things when we inhale them or when they mix with wastewater." Regarding why she named the cleaning product "eco-friendly castile soap," Özkorkmaz stated: "There is no packaging waste and it is 100 percent biodegradable in nature. Since it contains no synthetic fragrances and preservatives, and causes no harm when we inhale it or when we use it to wash our clothes or dishes and utensils, and is completely rinsable, I named this product eco-friendly castile soap."  

"Can be used for cleaning all areas of the home"

Explaining that eco-friendly castile soap can be made at home "using water, potassium hydroxide—a salt with a very high pH value, also known as caustic—and waste oil," Özkorkmaz emphasized that production must be done outdoors and gloves, protective goggles and a mask must always be used. Noting that castile soap can be used for cleaning all areas of the home, Özkorkmaz stated: "We can dissolve eco-friendly castile soap in water to clean floors. Similarly, we can clean windows. We can use it in dishwashers and washing machines. We can use it for washing clothes and dishes by hand."   Source - (AA)