In a move that’s earning Cyprus international praise, schoolchildren are playing a key role in turning used cooking oil into biodiesel. The “Tiganokinisi” or “frying pan” initiative, which has been integrated into the country’s national curriculum since 2018, is revolutionizing the recycling process, one bottle of oil at a time.

With over 80,000 students engaged annually, the project has schools acting as collection hubs for used cooking oil. The oil, sourced from homes across the island, is then filtered and transformed into biodiesel, tackling a global environmental problem: the disposal of millions of liters of cooking oil that often end up clogging drains, contaminating water supplies, and causing landfill fires.

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Xenia Loizidou, chair of the AKTI Project and Research Centre, which coordinates the initiative, explained the scale of the challenge: “The logistics are huge to collect this half-litre of cooking oil from each of our houses.” Despite the challenges, the program has already managed to capture about 10% of Cyprus’s annual 2,000-tonne cooking oil waste.

The project has also proven to be an educational goldmine. Students not only contribute to recycling efforts but are also given a say in how the proceeds are spent—funding green initiatives like photovoltaic panels, water fountains, and aromatic gardens in their schools. Over €550,000 has been allocated for these projects since the program’s inception.

In 2021, U.S. energy giant Chevron stepped in to fund the mobile science laboratory that travels to schools across Cyprus, furthering the program’s reach. “We quickly realized this was a great fit for us,” said Kristian Svendsen, Chevron’s regional manager for Egypt and Cyprus. The initiative has now visited over 500 schools, spreading awareness of both recycling and renewable energy.

With its blend of environmental activism, education, and community involvement, “Tiganokinisi” has garnered attention worldwide, winning accolades from the European Commission for social innovation and from the Global Education Network Europe for excellence in global education.

This pioneering initiative shows how Cyprus is stepping up to tackle waste while teaching a generation of students that “waste” can have value—and that value can help power the future.