Japan is collecting used cooking oil from households and restaurants to produce sustainable aviation fuel through a government-backed initiative called "Fry to Fly" [1].

The program seeks to reduce the aviation industry's reliance on fossil fuels. By converting waste oil into jet fuel, Japan intends to meet its broader climate-change mitigation goals and lower the environmental impact of air travel [2, 3].

Participating individuals, including homemakers like Maki Watanabe, contribute by saving used oil from their kitchens [1]. These domestic contributions are combined with oil collected from commercial restaurants to create a steady supply of feedstock for fuel production [1].

According to the initiative, blending recycled cooking oil with conventional jet fuel can cut life-cycle carbon emissions by 80% [2]. This reduction is a critical component of the national strategy to decarbonize the transport sector.

The Japanese government has set a specific target to supply 10% of the country's jet fuel with sustainable aviation fuel by 2030 [1]. This goal requires a significant scale-up in the collection and processing of waste oils across the nation, including in major hubs like Tokyo [1].

The effort represents a shift toward a circular economy, where household waste is transformed into a high-value energy resource. By engaging the public in the collection process, the government is attempting to create a sustainable domestic supply chain for aviation fuel [1, 3].

“Japan is collecting used cooking oil from households and restaurants to produce sustainable aviation fuel”

The Fry to Fly initiative highlights the growing necessity for aviation sectors to find non-fossil fuel alternatives to meet international climate agreements. By leveraging a distributed network of households and businesses, Japan is attempting to solve the feedstock scarcity problem that often hinders the production of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF).