Beijingers won't have to worry about their meals being soaked in gutter oil by the year 2015, according to a notice on the recycling system for renewable resources issued by the local government Saturday. However, experts say the local regulation might still be inadequate to curb the gutter oil business.

"The recycling of the waste oil from all food service providers must be 100 percent standardized by 2015," the notice said. "All providers, including small restaurants, should be equipped with related facilities, such as an oil-water separator and collection containers."

It requires restaurants to install machines that separate oil and grease before those substances enter the city's sewer system, thus making it impossible to collect them from that source.

Related government agencies should help recycling enterprises establish stable cooperation with biodiesel companies, to recycle the oil into biodiesel fuel for reuse. Furthermore, the government will introduce regulations for recycling enterprises.

"All the vehicles used for collection or transportation must be specially assigned and granted a related certificate, which is marked with transport routes and destinations," the notice said.

However, experts point out that, without proper preferential policies, the idea of converting oil into biodiesel will be difficult to implement.

Fan Zhihong, an expert on food safety at China Agriculture University, said in an interview with the Global Times yesterday the local government should adjust the economic relations in the market, so as to increase biodiesel companies' ability to compete in the recycling industry.

"If the waste oil collectors are still able to sell the oil at a high price to buyers, who recycle it into cooking oil, who will sell the oil to the biodiesel enterprises?" she asked.

Gutter oil can contain carcinogens and traces of aflatoxin, a potentially deadly substance. However, it's hard to test what is gutter oil, so it poses great difficulties for supervision, according to Hou Caiyun, a food security expert at China Agriculture University.

She said that the facilities to separate the oil can stop the loopholes from the start, preventing the oil from being illegally used at the source.

"It's a good thing for the government to take action. To control the illegal use from the source is the most effective way. But, we can't only rely on government supervision, We have to improve the moral standards in society and the self-discipline of enterprises," she suggested.

The supervision of gutter oil has not been added to food safety laws so far.

"Thus this notice is only a local administration regulation lacking in the protection under the law, which is conducive to implementation," Wang Liwei, a lawyer specializing in food safety regulations from Cheng-hui Law Firm, told the Global Times yesterday.

A total of 30 biodiesel companies in Central China's Henan Province had to shut down operations due to a source supply shortage last year.

Police arrested 32 people suspected of producing and selling gutter oil in September throughout China. They also seized 100 tons of recycled oil containing carcinogens and other toxins.