Abstract: Biodiesel produced from waste cooking oil is an alternative clean fuel to fossil diesel. The development and widespread application of biodiesel will reduce the consumption of fossil diesel, which provides an effective way to recycle and reuse waste cooking oil. In this review, we introduced the production and disposal processes of kitchen waste and waste cooling oil in China, as well as the global status and development of biodiesel produced from waste cooking oil. The dominant transesterification methods and technologies were summarized, while the major issues and challenges for efficient production of biodiesel from waste cooking oil in China were discussed. Finally, we prospected future research of the biodiesel produced from waste cooking oil, and provided some suggestions on its rapid and sustainable development.

Key words: waste cooking oil, biodiesel, recycling.