MUTA - Colombia

Muta (Reaceico SAS) is a Colombian circular economy company that collects and recycles used cooking oil (UCO) derived from vegetable oils. With operations in 10 cities across Colombia and a central warehouse in the northern part of the country, Muta processes, cleans, packages, and exports UCO primarily to the United Kingdom, where the recycled oil is transformed into biofuel. The company is mainly owned by Mr. Alejandro Caiaffa, a recognized advocate for environmental and social change in northern Colombia with more than eight years of experience in the recycling industry. Although still a relatively young company, Muta has received capital expenditure and working capital financing from major Colombian banks to support its growth and increase its processing and storage capacity for UCO exports. Harris Tobias Ltd, its main client based in the United Kingdom, is a well-known buyer of recycled fats and oils and has sourced UCO from Muta for several years. The client has also provided advances to support the sourcing of additional UCO, demonstrating a strong commercial relationship between the two parties. 

The company collects UCO mainly from hotels, restaurants, and cafés using a mobile application that supports end-to-end traceability throughout the value chain. The operational model begins with a collection request from the generator through the application, after which a collection date is scheduled and the UCO is collected from the generator’s premises using company trucks. Muta certifies the proper collection and disposal of UCO to the generator, as the company itself is officially certified to provide these services. Once collected, the UCO is cleaned and filtered to remove impurities, followed by moisture testing. The recycled oil is then stored in tanks and exported. As of 2021, Muta sourced UCO from more than 2,000 generators, mainly restaurants. International clients use refineries that process UCO as a raw material for the production of biodiesel and other bioenergy products. 

The investment was made with the expectation of scaling both environmental and socio-economic impacts by significantly expanding UCO collection volumes from approximately 1,100 MT to 10,000 MT. The project was also expected to contribute to climate action, as biodiesel produced from UCO can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by up to 70–80% compared to conventional fuels. On the social side, the project was anticipated to formalize a traditionally informal sector by increasing the number of recyclers from approximately 50 to 350 and expanding total permanent employment to more than 430. Participating collectors were expected to achieve income increases of 40–50%, thereby improving livelihoods and promoting more equitable value distribution across the recycling chain

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