Cooking Oil Theft Hits $500M as Biodiesel Firm Warns Restaurants
Buffalo, N.Y. – September 08, 2026 -- Used cooking oil theft across the United States totaled between $300 million and $500 million in 2025, according to the North American Renderers Association, prompting Buffalo Biodiesel to issue a security warning to its roughly 30,000 restaurant customers across western New York and the Northeast.
Buffalo Biodiesel says hundreds of thefts have hit its customer base and the trend is accelerating
Ryan Haggerty, chief state litigator and general counsel at Buffalo Biodiesel, said restaurants are frequent targets because used cooking oil bins are typically stored outdoors in unlit, unmonitored areas. "Cooking oil theft nationally has become a big problem and there is a sophisticated and growing illegal black marketplace that is threatening the biodiesel sector," Haggerty said.