STRABANE-based cooking oil supplier and waste oil collector Frylite Solutions plans to bolster its Irish operations by investing £7 million in a new state-of-the-art Dublin depot.
The facility, which will add to its existing six sites across the island, is expected to be operational by early 2024 and will create at least 30 jobs.
With a current staff of 290, the company services 8,500 pubs, hotels, bakeries, restaurants, food factories, fast food outlets, delis, and catering customers with 20,000 deliveries every month.
It comes as Frylite embraces a new look following a rebrand which it says brings to life the true essence of what the business is about (the name has changed to Frylite Solutions to convey that it is the regenerative food solutions partner to the catering and food processing industry in Northern Ireland and the Republic).
"The new Dublin plant, which is currently going through planning, will become our sustainability flagship depot for use of renewable energy to power fleet and plant," according to Eamon McCay, managing director of Frylite, which he founded in 1988 at a time when most waste oil was going into landfill or was being dumped.
"We see a world where oil and food waste help solve the energy problems by becoming transformed into sustainable fuels," Eamon said.
"We have created a new rallying call to ourselves, our customers and our partners to 'make things right'.
"We are doing this by creating the best products and solutions that empower our customers to cook and process the best quality food every time with our excellent service and great product quality, but to also ensure that they can dispose of their waste oil and food in the most efficient and sustainable manner.
"We provide solutions for the entire food industry, be that chefs or food producers. And we help them provide the best products to their clients and customers while not compromising on the need to take care of the environment. We want to be a leader in all things environmental and to make things right in every way we can."
Frylite Solutions was the first company in Ireland to collect used oil and food waste to generate renewable energy. It deals directly with leading refineries across Europe and has the reputation and buying power to get the best quality product at the best price whilst choosing to supply healthy choices such as soya bean, rapeseed and olive oils.
The market leader providing the complete oil management system, Frylite Solutions was the first company in Ireland to collect used oil and food waste to generate renewable energy, and it currently supplies 32.5 million litres of fresh cooking oil and collects 22 million litres of used cooking oil for recycling into biodiesel.
Eamon says: "Oil and food waste are a bigger global issue than many think. Latest data says that almost 40 per cent of the food created globally is wasted, and when food is thrown away in landfill it rots, creating more methane - the very gases that are creating global warming.
"In fact, it is estimated that food waste is four times more of a polluter than aviation – flights. There is also a huge issue with the sewage system of fatbergs created by people dumping oil down drains and from food production and domestic kitchens.
"This is a huge problem, but Frylite Solutions is an important part of the solution. We are committed to the circular economy - where we think about all elements of what we do and minimise not only waste oil and food but also waste of time, energy, and resources. This way we can be the leaders in our industry."
Among its sustainability targets is to have its entire 90-strong fleet to be electric within five years and to achieve zero process waste to landfill within the same time frame.
It also aims to use the renewable energy created through the supply of food waste and process by-products to power its depots in Strabane, Coleraine, Lisburn, Dublin, Cork and Galway and to expand its investment in solar energy, including electric charging points and gas to electric technology.
