From Kitchens to the Skies: The Green Planet Bio-Fuels Mission
What happens to the cooking oil left behind after thousands of orders of fries, chicken wings and restaurant meals?
For many people, it’s simply a waste. For Steve Hyman, President and Founder of Green Planet Bio-Fuels (GPBF), it represents something much bigger: an opportunity to turn yesterday’s cooking oil into part of tomorrow’s renewable energy supply.
Green Planet Bio-Fuels has built its business around a simple idea—materials we consider waste can have another life. Founded in 2008, the company collects used cooking oil from restaurants and food-service operations and helps redirect it into the renewable-fuel ecosystem instead of allowing a valuable resource to go to waste.
And increasingly, that conversation extends far beyond the road.
From the Fryer to Renewable Fuel
Used cooking oil, or UCO, has become a valuable feedstock within the global renewable-energy industry. Beyond biodiesel, UCO can also be processed through approved pathways to produce sustainable aviation fuel, commonly known as SAF—a lower-carbon alternative to conventional petroleum-based jet fuel.
That means something as ordinary as oil collected from a restaurant kitchen can become part of a much larger energy story.
For Hyman, that connection represents exactly what Green Planet was created to accomplish.
His journey began in the hospitality industry. While working in restaurant kitchens, Hyman saw firsthand how much cooking oil businesses generated. Instead of simply looking at that oil as something to dispose of, he began experimenting with its potential as an alternative fuel source.
That curiosity eventually became Green Planet Bio-Fuels.
“What we collect every day isn’t simply waste. It’s a resource,” says Hyman. “Our role is to make sure that resource stays within the circular economy and has the opportunity to create value again.”
Today, GPBF serves thousands of food-service locations and businesses, providing used cooking oil collection alongside grease trap cleaning, line jetting and other commercial services.
Helping Build a Circular Economy
The environmental opportunity is only one side of the story.
Keeping used cooking oil within a domestic renewable-fuel supply chain also demonstrates how local businesses can participate in a broader circular economy—one where materials are recovered, reused and transformed instead of following a traditional take-use-dispose model.
A restaurant may see a container filled with yesterday’s fryer oil. Green Planet sees a commodity that still has economic and environmental value.
That philosophy has become increasingly relevant as Canada works toward reducing aviation emissions. Canada’s Aviation Climate Action Plan identifies sustainable aviation fuel as an important component of the country’s vision for achieving net-zero aviation emissions by 2050.
For companies like GPBF, the opportunity begins at the very start of that renewable-fuel journey: recovering valuable feedstock efficiently, responsibly and traceably.
A Mission That Goes Beyond Collection
Green Planet Bio-Fuels’ mission is ultimately bigger than picking up used oil.
It is about changing how businesses think about waste.
Every restaurant, commercial kitchen and food-service operation has an opportunity to participate. What seems like a routine operational task—disposing of cooking oil responsibly—can become part of a much larger system connecting local businesses, renewable-energy producers and emerging low-carbon industries.
From a kitchen in Toronto to the evolving fuels that can help power transportation around the world, the journey demonstrates how sustainability can begin in surprisingly ordinary places.
For Hyman, that is what Green Planet Bio-Fuels has always been about: finding value where others see waste and helping turn everyday business operations into part of a more sustainable future.
From kitchens to highways—and potentially all the way to the skies—every drop has somewhere meaningful to go.