Valley Proteins...

I never woulda thought they'd be so big. I guess I shoulda figured that since they're mentioned in every BioDiesel discussion I've looked into, they were pretty major... But they've got two regional locations within an hour's drive from me and four locations in my state, NOT counting the corperate headquarters...

Talk about David vs. Goliath, Sheesh...

I just drove behind every small Chinese Carry Out within a mile of me, then every Seafood joint, then every Chicken place, then the fast food places... (Working down the grades.) That logo and the two local phone numbers becaome quite familiar.


So, I'd like to be able to negociate with the resturants to persuade them away from "The Man" and to give their grease to me. I decided to study my opponent...

1.) Charges a fee.
2.) Judges the waste output of the resturant and supplies an adequate container for their grease.
3.) Keeps Container in good shape, empties regularly, in accordance with laws and regulations.
4.) Provides other services such as grease trap maintenance and drain line cleaning.


So in my negociation, I'd like to go down a pro and con list...

1.) This is where I got em beat! I'm free! Though not all free things are good... Like a punch in the face, or a flaming bag of poop on your front porch... I'll have to provide more.

2.) Uhhh... I guess... I can get a hold of 55 gallon drums easily. (Hydraulic fluid drums from work... I already have 4. I have a 275 gal tank in the back yard to empty them into. Just keep them in rotation. The bungs can keep the rain and debris out of them too.

3.) This one's where I've got questions...
A.) Laws?! There are laws for this? Ummm. Can anyone go into detail on this?
B.) I'll empty 'em regularly... But how can I judge if the supplier will overload me prior to this? I'll deal with not enough by adding more resturants.
C.) I can get more drums if need be and toss broken ones.

4.) Definitely not. I'm not going to be responsible got plumbing. I'm not licensed either.



So yeah... Anyone got any tips on getting some grease?