Ukrop’s to turn chicken frying oil into fuel

can add saving the planet to the list of reasons to eat fried chicken.

Ukrop’s Super Markets Inc. today will announce a program to turn used soy oil from its chicken frying operations at 11 Richmond-area stores into biodiesel for its fleet of delivery trucks.

Employees will dump the used oil into 350-gallon plastic containers behind the stores. The oil then will be picked up by Richmond-based Reco Biodiesel, which will transform it into fuel.

Ukrop’s plans to expand the program to all 28 stores.

The chain’s fleet of 15 trucks and 45 refrigerated trailers uses about 275,000 gallons of diesel fuel each year. The new program will produce as much as 65,000 gallons, or about a quarter of the total.

Pat Hadden, director of technical services for the grocery chain, said a tank of diesel will contain about 15 percent of the new fuel. More could cause mechanical problems.

Using biodiesel fuel reduces a vehicle’s carbon footprint, according to the National Biodiesel Board, a Missouri-based industry association.

The chain collected about 900 gallons of soy oil in the past week.

Charlie Brown, president of Southside Fuel Inc., the company that fuels Ukrop’s trucks, said this is the first program of its kind he’s heard of. He believes more companies eventually will do likewise.

Food Lion LLC is testing a program to use its cooking oil at two of its stores, one in Portsmouth and the other in North Carolina. Biodiesel-fueled generators at the stores are fueled by the recycled cooking oil. The program began in May.

Kroger Co. officials did not return phone calls.

Robert S. Ukrop, president and chief executive of Ukrop’s, said using the fuel is part of an ongoing effort to promote environmental sustainability.

He said the economic impact is unclear for now. But the company said it could save as much as $50,000 per year.

Contact Louis Llovio at (804) 649-6348 or .