The Green Room

Yellow grease goes green

By Eric Voyles on January 20, 2012 5 comments

When you think about sustainability, you probably think about recycling cardboard or carpooling to work – not chicken grease.

Our members love our rotisserie chicken, but that fatty residue left behind after cooking it is actually a major source of waste in most Sam’s Clubs. We’re determined to create zero waste, so we’ve found a way to turn that yellow grease into green gold.

Sam’s Club is now recycling the majority of yellow chicken grease into useable products like animal feed and biodiesel fuel. In 2011, we diverted more than 268,000 gallons of yellow grease from rotisserie chicken. Of that total, more than 100,000 gallons were recycled into biodiesel. Another 163,000 gallons were converted into animal feed products.

This program is helping our environment – and our business – because we sell the grease and have also decreased the cost of maintaining grease traps. That’s savings we can pass on to our members.

To find out more about our commitment to our environment and our members, click here.