By Cindy Klimek

Forty-year-old New Yorker Peter Neofytides is taking this a step further by discouraging restaurants from pouring used cooking oil down the proverbial drain and instead giving it to him to make biodiesel fuel to power cars, boats, home heating systems, and a variety of other gas-powered machines.

“I believe in this with all my heart,” says Neofytides, whose company, Mac Hudson Industries, recycles hundreds of gallons of used cooking oil into biodiesel fuel every year, keeping the waste out of landfills and oceans.

Neofytides is a big fan of the alterna-fuel and spouts figures like--“it reduces black exhaust smoke by 92% and greenhouse gases by 68%”--from memory. He also proudly explains how he hasn’t had to clean the gunk from the exhaust on his boat in months.

The idea of biofuel has been around for decades. (Vocal supporters of the movement include Darryl Hannah, Willy Nelson, and environmentalism’s poster child, Al Gore.)But, in recent years, biodiesel has become such a celebrity in its own right that today it has its own official website, magazine, Facebook and Twitter page, convention (2013’s will be held over four days in February in Las Vegas) and even an electronica band named in its honor.

What exactly is biodiesel? In layman’s terms, Neofytides says his oil goes through four stages of filters before being put in a centrifuge which spins at 20,000 times the force of gravity. While spinning, the oil is separated from any water or waste particles that may be in it.

“Afterwards, it looks like clean oil. You almost want to go cook with it,” Neofytides says with a laugh.

The oil is then heated up and mixed with glycerol, a combination of glycerin and some type of alcohol (Neofytides uses methanol). Next, it is placed into a reactor, which separates the oil from the other components. The glycerin, believe it or not, is eventually reborn as a bar of soap, while the methanol is reclaimed and reused. Then comes another round of filtering and centrifuging (a bit more slowly this time) and the oil is ready to be shipped off to one of the four biodiesel labs in the U.S., which give it a few finishing touches and put it on the market.

Neofytides, a third-generation demolition man, credits his work in the wrecking ball industry with getting him interested in biodiesel. Specifically, he says it’s due to the environmental waste his team would come across on work sites. The discovery would force them to halt operations and call in a waste management company, which generated even more waste – time and money. Neofytides, obviously a born idea man, says that because of his frustration he started thinking about ways to put the waste to use, rather than just throwing it away, which led to his initial research into biodiesel.

“I immediately became intrigued, then fascinated with it,” he says, adding that he soon began buying up components for a factory. Approximately a year and a half ago, Neofytides put all the parts together in a New Jersey warehouse, and he was in business. Today, the factory is complete, running smoothly, and, in true biofuel fashion, putting out less than 5% waste.

Neofytides has always been a multi-tasker. Aside from the demolition company, he manages a restaurant, the Aegean Cove in Queens, New York, which he took over several years ago from his late father. He and his father would switch off between businesses, sometimes on a daily basis.

“If he was on the demolition site, I was at the restaurant, and vice versa,” he explains.

It should come as no surprise then, that for a man who owns a demolition company, a restaurant, and a homegrown biodiesel refinery, settling is never an option. Neofytides is powering ahead with biodiesel, hoping to open four more refineries in the United States in the next four years, though he isn’t quite sure where.

“Maybe down south,” he says with a laugh. “They’ve got a lot of cooking oil down there. Have you ever been down south? They fry everything.”

He is also hoping to one day open a refinery in Greece geared more towards home heating than car fuel. Neofytides, who admits that he is in the early stages of this move, says his Greek factory would be about “providing for the elderly. It’s not about the profit. It’s about who needs it most. Not too many people there have diesel cars, but there are a lot of people having trouble paying for heat. We want to make [biodiesel] there. We’re trying to figure out how we fit in.”

He is hoping to keep his prices low not only by obtaining a factory on Greek soil, thereby avoiding the country’s imported fuel tax, but by taking down any possible bootleggers.

“I know of one person doing it in Greece, but not legally or legitimately, and it’s very important to get the right quality biodiesel fuel,” he says, adding that the wrong kind can damage your engine, possibly to the point where it cannot be fixed.

There is no shortage of used cooking oil in Greece or the States, but you won’t find Neofytides lurking behind restaurants trying to steal their leftovers any time soon. He not only pays for any oil he collects, he employs salespeople to track down willing restaurants.

“For the restaurant owner, [my fee] isn’t enough to make you rich, but it’s definitely enough for maybe a nice vacation at the end of the year,” he says.

Once a shipment is found, Neofytides has a team of drivers ready to pick up the oil and bring it to the refinery. But if no driver is available, he’s not above getting behind the wheel himself to keep things moving without a hitch.

“I’m very hands-on. If someone has a shipment and I don’t have any drivers available, I jump in the truck, I don’t even think twice” he says.

Neofytides isn’t just proactive when it comes to business. He brings the same go-getter attitude to all aspects of his life.

“When I commit, I get it done. There is nothing in my life that I’ve wanted to do and didn’t. I wanted to be a pilot, I got my license. I wanted to be a captain, I have a boat. I’ve always loved animals, I have a farm upstate. I raise cattle. We have rodeos. I do a little bit of vet work. I shoe my own horses,” he says. Neofytides completed his urban cowboy image by learning how to lasso, and says that riders who come to his rodeos from more traditional farm lands find it hilarious when “this Greek guy from New York takes their money” during competitions.

What does his family think of his biodiesel ambitions? “When I first started buying components [for the biodiesel refinery], my cousin looked at me like I was crazy. But, then he said to me, ‘you’re actually doing it instead of just talking about it.’ That was really inspiring for me,” he explains, adding that the rest of his family is also on board with the biodiesel idea.

With three businesses, one refinery (and growing), one farm, various trucks, drivers, and workers, and one unexpected herd of cattle, Neofytides has a lot on his plate. However, you get a sense he is more than ready to take it all on, and then, naturally, recycle whatever is left into biodiesel.

To learn more about biodiesel, go to www.biodiesel.org