Compliance8 min read
Used Cooking Oil Pickup in the East Bay: Oakland & Alameda
East Bay restaurants: free used cooking oil pickup in Oakland and Alameda County, plus the EBMUD, StopWaste, and CDFA rules you have to meet.
June 28, 2026Read More
Matthew Ashrafi
Co-Founder, Oil Guyz
Matthew Ashrafi co-founded Oil Guyz in 2026 with Joey Bolohan, bringing a decade of building and running software companies to an industry still working off paper tickets and missed pickups. He learned the business from the kitchen out, how containers get placed, how routes get planned, how manifests get generated, and how oil reaches a biorefinery to become biodiesel and renewable diesel feedstock. He writes here about collection logistics, service reliability, and the recycling supply chain.
Articles by Matthew Ashrafi
Guides11 min read
Used Cooking Oil Pickup in the Bay Area: Restaurant Guide
The complete guide to free used cooking oil pickup for Bay Area restaurants. FOG rules, CDFA licensing, theft, costs, and how to choose a hauler.
June 28, 2026Read More
Compliance8 min read
Used Cooking Oil Pickup in Tacoma and Pierce County
A restaurant guide to free used cooking oil pickup in Tacoma and Pierce County, WA, plus the Tacoma FOG program and Health Department rules you must follow.
June 28, 2026Read More
Guides10 min read
Casino Used Cooking Oil Pickup: How Casinos and Country Clubs Manage It
Casino used cooking oil pickup and recycling, explained: how casinos and country clubs handle high-volume buffet and banquet frying across multiple outlets on one account, with a CDFA digital manifest after every pickup, one dashboard, and free locked anti-theft containers.
June 16, 2026Read More
Restaurant Operations10 min read
How Often Should I Empty My Grease Bin for Best Results?
How often to empty your grease bin: most kitchens do bi-weekly used cooking oil pickup, high-volume weekly, low-volume monthly. A cadence guide to stop overflow, odor, and theft.
June 12, 2026Read More
Guides9 min read
How Restaurant Chains Manage Used Cooking Oil Across Every Location
How restaurant chains manage used cooking oil pickup across locations: the operational playbook for one account, standardized locked containers, scheduled pickups, one dashboard, and a CDFA digital manifest per site.
June 12, 2026Read More
Guides10 min read
Airport Used Cooking Oil Pickup: A Guide for Terminal Concessions and Airline Catering
Airport used cooking oil pickup for terminal concessions and airline catering kitchens, how secured, badged, scheduled service works, how multi-operator accounts roll up to one dashboard, and how every collection produces a CDFA-compliant digital manifest with chain of custody to a licensed renderer.
June 11, 2026Read More
Industry Guide9 min read
What To Do When Your Grease Hauler Stops Showing Up
Grease hauler stopped showing up? Here's the exact playbook: document missed pickups, request your manifests, check your contract, and switch with zero service gap.
June 10, 2026Read More
Guides9 min read
Cooking Oil Management Software vs a Collection Service: What Restaurants Actually Need
Cooking oil management software vs collection service, compared honestly: what a standalone app actually does, what only a real used cooking oil pickup service can do, and why most restaurants need the pickup, the digital manifest, and the Filtrate portal in one, not a dashboard that still leaves you hunting for a hauler.
June 5, 2026Read More
Industry Guide10 min read
What Are the Benefits of Using a Local Cooking Oil Recycling Service?
The benefits of a local cooking oil recycling service: faster response, real dispatch, no call-center, local FOG knowledge, no contracts or minimums, and full CDFA compliance.
June 4, 2026Read More
Guides10 min read
Hospital Used Cooking Oil Pickup for Healthcare Facilities
Hospital used cooking oil pickup for healthcare facilities: how dietary kitchens and cafeterias across a system get scheduled collection, a locked anti-theft container, CDFA digital manifests, and one dashboard for every site.
June 3, 2026Read More
Industry Guide9 min read
How to Choose the Best Used Cooking Oil Pickup Company in LA
How to choose the best used cooking oil pickup Los Angeles restaurants can trust: CDFA-registered, free, no-contract, secure, with digital manifests after every pickup.
June 2, 2026Read More
Recycling & Sustainability9 min read
Fast Food Cooking Oil Recycling: How It Becomes Renewable Fuel
Fast food cooking oil recycling turns fryer grease into renewable fuel. Here's the full chain, fryer to CDFA-licensed renderer to biodiesel, and the manifest that makes it legitimate.
June 2, 2026Read More
Guides9 min read
Food Truck Cooking Oil Disposal: A Practical Guide
Food truck cooking oil disposal, done right: where mobile kitchens can legally dump used fryer oil, why curbside and storm drains are off-limits, how commissary collection works, and how to get free pickup plus a CDFA digital manifest even as a small, single-truck operator.
May 30, 2026Read More
Security9 min read
Used Cooking Oil Theft in California Restaurants: Why It Happens and How to Stop It
Used cooking oil theft costs California restaurants thousands annually. Learn why thieves target kitchen bins, what federal and state investigations have uncovered, and how locked containers and CDFA-licensed hauler programs stop it.
May 9, 2026Read More
Restaurant Tips7 min read
Is Your Grease Hauler Ripping You Off? 7 Warning Signs for California Restaurants
Spot the red flags that mean your used cooking oil hauler is costing you money, compliance risk, or both. Learn the 7 warning signs every California restaurant owner should watch for.
April 8, 2026Read More
Restaurant Tips7 min read
Fryer Oil Disposal Best Practices for Commercial Kitchens
Learn safe, compliant fryer oil disposal methods for commercial kitchens in Southern California. Includes change schedules, handling tips, and CA regulations.
April 2, 2026Read More
Compliance6 min read
How to Verify Your Grease Hauler Is Properly Licensed in California
A practical guide to verifying your grease hauler's California CDFA IKG registration, what to check, red flags to watch for, and how to look up any hauler.
March 24, 2026Read More
Restaurant Tips6 min read
How to Switch UCO Pickup Providers Without Any Downtime
Step-by-step guide to switching your used cooking oil pickup provider without missed collections, compliance gaps, or service interruptions.
March 23, 2026Read More
Compliance8 min read
Restaurant Health Inspection Grease Checklist: Everything They Check
Complete checklist of grease-related items health inspectors look for during California restaurant inspections. Prepare in advance and pass every time.
March 22, 2026Read More
Emergency6 min read
Emergency Grease Trap Overflow: What to Do Right Now
Step-by-step emergency response for a grease trap overflow in your restaurant. Immediate actions, cleanup, and how to prevent health code violations.
March 20, 2026Read More
Get Free Used Cooking Oil Pickup. First Stop in 3 to 5 Business Days.
Picture the bin that never overflows and the compliant digital manifest already in your inbox. Used cooking oil pickup is free because we are paid for the oil, not by you. Every week you wait is another overflowing bin and another gap in your records. Free locked bin, confirmed the same business day, first pickup in 3 to 5 business days, no contract, cancel anytime. New routes are scheduled in the order they come in, so get on the list today.
Or call (714) 880-4788 and talk to a real person today.