Last updated 2026-08-21
TL;DR
Colorado does not post a state yellow grease price. Collectors price off the USDA AMS weekly Ag Energy Round-Up, then cut for freight, FFA, and MIU. Restaurants often pay $0 for fryer oil pickup. There is no statewide collector license. Budget the $50 LLC filing, city FOG rules, and a truck that may need a USDOT number.
How much does yellow grease cost in Colorado?
Colorado does not set a yellow grease price. Collectors price off the USDA AMS National Weekly Ag Energy Round-Up, then cut for freight, FFA, and MIU. Many restaurants pay $0 when someone takes the fryer oil. Confirm the current cents per pound on the AMS report. [1]
That PDF moves every week. I will not invent Friday's number. Anyone selling you a locked Colorado price with no week stamp is selling a story.
Yellow grease is used fryer oil. It is not the water and sludge in a grease interceptor. The tape most Front Range buyers still start from is a Central U.S. FOB quote in cents per pound. A plant along I-25 or a collector running Denver to Pueblo still begins there, then argues about water, breading, and who paid for the tote.
If the load is going into biodiesel, the plant also cares about the federal Renewable Fuel Standard path for yellow grease. That is an EPA feedstock path, not a Colorado price board. [5] EIA Table 3 is the other official pulse. It shows monthly U.S. pounds of yellow grease that actually went into biodiesel. It does not tell you what a Boulder taco shop got paid. [9]
I treat broker screenshots as gossip until they match the AMS week and a signed ticket. Colorado has no public restaurant payout file. The closest official number is still that AMS quote. [1]
Quality is the silent price. High free fatty acid, water, or food solids can reclass a load or trigger a discount scale in the contract. The DOE and NREL biodiesel handling guide is the plain English place to see why plants obsess over FFA and contamination. [11] Read your contract's reject rules before you buy a second truck.
What do restaurants in Colorado actually pay for yellow grease?
Most Colorado kitchens do not buy yellow grease. They produce it. The cost they feel is the bin, the mess, and whether a collector shows up. Plenty of accounts pay $0 and get a locked tote. Some high volume rooms get a small payout. Some pay a service fee if the stop is tiny or remote. Nobody has good public data on Front Range restaurant payouts.
Brown grease is a different invoice. Trap pumping is a wastewater job. Cities care because FOG clogs sewers. That invoice is usually a service charge to the restaurant, not a commodity sale. Do not mix the two on one ticket if you want clean renderer paper.
If you are the collector, your cost is bins, fuel, labor, insurance, lab risk, and the spread between the AMS tape and the check you actually get. [1] If you are the restaurant, ask what happens on a spill and who owns the oil once it hits the tote. Verbal handshake routes are how oil walks off on a Saturday night.
I would not promise a kitchen a fixed cents per pound for a year. The AMS report does not sit still. Write a formula that points at a named week and a named lab method, or you will eat the first bad month. Confirm the current quote. Do not tattoo last spring's number on a flyer.
Do you need a license for yellow grease in Colorado?
There is no single statewide yellow grease collector license. You still need ordinary business paper, and some cities want a FOG hauler registration if you touch interceptors. Confirm every city and county on your route. Do not buy a fake state grease card from a consultant.
Start with an entity. Colorado charges $50 to file articles of organization for an LLC, per the Colorado Secretary of State business document fee schedule. [2] The same office charges $10 for the LLC periodic report. A Colorado sales tax license application has no state fee, according to the Colorado Department of Revenue. [3]
Used cooking oil is not automatically hazardous waste, and it is not federal used oil. 40 CFR 279.1 says, "Used oil means any oil that has been refined from crude oil, or any synthetic oil, that has been used and as a result of such use is contaminated by physical or chemical impurities." [4] Fryer oil is animal or vegetable fat. Different rule set. Colorado solid waste rules still matter if you store, spill, or treat the material like trash. Title 30, article 20 is the county solid waste chapter. Ask the county if closed commodity totes count as a hauler load. [12]
Sell it as animal feed and you step into the Colorado Commercial Feed Act. That is a Colorado Department of Agriculture registration problem, not a CDPHE collector card. Confirm product registration with Inspection and Consumer Services before you print a feed label. [7] [8]
Pump traps in Denver and you are in the city's FOG program, which is wastewater, not USDA. [13] Sealed fryer totes only can sit outside some hauler rules. Confirm. I would call the utility before I print door hangers.
How long does yellow grease take in Colorado?
Legal setup can be short. A tote can take weeks to fill. A renderer check can take longer than the oil sat behind the restaurant. Confirm current processing times with each office. No one can honestly guarantee approval speed.
Colorado SOS online entity filings often show as filed the same day. That is not a promise. City FOG accounts, utility bonds, and wastewater registrations run on that city's clock. Ask Denver Wastewater or your home utility for this month's steps. [13] A sales tax account is paperwork, not a waiting room, but you still confirm status in Revenue Online. [3]
Operational time is the part people forget to price. A slow cafe might need a month to fill a 300 gallon tote. A busy fry line can fill faster. Winter on the Front Range makes oil thick. You will spend more minutes with a pump and a spatula than a July route in Phoenix. Pickup frequency is a contract term, not a state rule.
Renderer onboarding is the real wait. Certificate of insurance, a W-9, a trial load, and a lab result. I have no public Colorado dataset for average days to first paid ticket. Build slack. Do not lease a second truck on a handshake.
If someone asks how long yellow grease takes, ask which clock they mean. Entity. City. Fill time. Lab. Settlement. Those are five different calendars.
What first-year paper hits a Colorado collector?
First year cost is mostly paper, a used truck, and bins you will lose if you skip locks. The cheap official pieces are the ones with published fees. Colorado charges $50 to file articles of organization for an LLC, per the Colorado Secretary of State business document fee schedule. [2] Colorado charges $10 for the periodic report. The state sales tax license application is $0. [3] Local business licenses, utility FOG cards, and scale certifications are extra and they change. Confirm with that board.
If you buy or sell by weight, ask Colorado Department of Agriculture weights and measures about a commercial scale. Guessing pounds on a renderer ticket is how you donate margin. [7]
Interstate or a heavy truck pulls in FMCSA. Their registration page says you need a USDOT number when the vehicle "is used in interstate commerce and has a vehicle weight rating or actual weight of 10,001 pounds or more" (plus the other listed triggers). [6] Confirm whether your actual route is interstate. A Denver only loop is not the same as a load into Nebraska.
I would keep a folder with the SOS report, the DOR account, COIs, pickup logs, and every lab ticket. YellowGreasePath sells a $149 one-time Bin + Theft + Renderer Kit if you want templates for bin agreements and theft language. You can also write those forms with a lawyer. This site is not a law firm.
Skip the framed certificates people try to sell you at trade shows. Colorado does not have a secret grease diploma. Spend the money on locks and a spill kit.
What should a truck, bin, and insurance budget look like?
I would not buy a new vacuum truck in year one if the plan is only yellow grease. A used box truck or flatbed and closed totes is the cheaper path. Vacuum gear starts to make sense when you also pump interceptors. That is a different business, different smell, different city rules. [13]
Bins walk. Budget locks, branding that is not easy to peel, and a written bin agreement. Theft is a cost line, not a surprise. I like simple 300 gallon closed totes over pretty custom tanks you cannot replace on a Thursday.
Insurance is not a blog number. Commercial auto, general liability, and a serious talk about pollution on a gutter spill. Workers comp if you have employees. Ask a Colorado broker for quotes on your actual GVWR and radius. Anyone publishing a statewide premium in an article made it up.
Fuel and labor will beat your entity fees by month two. The $50 LLC filing is real and tiny next to tires. [2] Price the route in hours, not in miles, because mountain accounts lie about drive time.
If the truck sits over 10,001 pounds and you cross a state line, add USDOT compliance time to the budget. [6] Colorado DMV commercial plates are their own errand. Confirm class and CDL triggers before you buy a chassis that forces a test you did not want. [14]
How do Denver and other cities treat grease haulers?
Cities care about pipes. Denver's FOG program sits under wastewater, and it is aimed at interceptor grease that kills sewers. [13] If you only swap sealed fryer totes, you may not be the hauler they wrote the form for. If you pump traps, assume you need their account, their manifest habits, and their disposal site rules. Confirm with the utility. Do not take my word as a permit.
Aurora, Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, and the mountain towns each write their own FOG pages. There is no statewide reciprocal grease card. A Boulder stop does not bless a Colorado Springs stop.
Counties can also touch hauling under solid waste authority in Title 30. [12] Closed commodity oil is often argued as product, not municipal trash. A pile of broken totes in a yard is waste. Keep the site boring and you stay out of a facility argument.
I would build a one page matrix: city, FOG contact, whether you pump traps, disposal site, and the date you last confirmed. That spreadsheet is worth more than a logo on the door.
If a restaurant asks you to "just hit the trap while you are here," that is how you inherit a wastewater violation. Smile and quote it as a separate licensed job, or walk.
How do renderer tickets and tests change what you get paid?
The AMS quote is the headline. The ticket is the paycheck. [1] Plants pay on net pounds after they measure what you actually delivered. Water is not oil. Breading is not oil. A pretty tote photo does not move the lab.
Typical arguments are FFA, moisture, impurities, and unsaponifiables. The DOE and NREL handling guide is a decent plain language tour of why biodiesel plants treat dirty feedstock as a process problem. [11] Your contract should name the test method. If it does not, you are volunteering for a dispute.
EPA's approved RFS pathways are why some plants will take yellow grease at all. They need a lawful feedstock story, not a mystery drum. [5] EIA's monthly biodiesel feedstock table is how you see whether the national plant fleet is still hungry for yellow grease pounds. [9] Hunger changes. Confirm the week you are selling into.
I would run a trial load before I promise a restaurant a payout. One bad MIU result teaches more than a brochure. Keep a sample. Date it.
If a buyer will not show the discount scale in writing, I would keep shopping. Handshake chemistry is how collectors fund someone else's yield.
Does Colorado sales tax apply to yellow grease loads?
Maybe. Do not guess on a load going to a plant. Colorado's state sales tax rate is 2.9 percent, and cities and special districts stack on top. Confirm the combined rate for the stop address with the Department of Revenue. [10]
A sales tax license application has no state fee. [3] That does not mean the load is exempt. Resale certificates, manufacturing exemptions, and wholesale claims are fact specific. I am not your tax advisor. Ask DOR or a Colorado CPA before you skip tax on an invoice.
If you buy totes or a truck out of state, ask about use tax. Equipment is where new collectors get surprised, not the $50 articles fee. [2]
Keep invoices that show the buyer, the pounds, and the exemption certificate if you took one. A clean file beats a clever theory in an audit.
Local lodgers taxes and occupational taxes are a different mess in some home rule cities. Confirm with that city clerk if you open a yard, more than a truck.
How does Colorado compare with Arizona and California on cost?
Colorado is lighter on statewide collector theater than California and closer to a city by city FOG patchwork. The oil still prices off a national tape. [1] The difference is the paper around the truck.
California has a thicker rendering and transporter tradition. If you want that contrast, read Yellow grease cost in California. Arizona is the other mountain west check, with its own city pretreatment habits. See yellow grease cost in Arizona. Neither state sets your AMS number.
Idaho is useful if you run the Western Slope toward a plant or a transfer. yellow grease cost in Idaho is the next tab. Illinois, Florida, and Georgia show how Midwest and Southeast city FOG programs bill restaurants versus collectors. Those writeups are here: Illinois, Florida, and Georgia.
I would not move a Colorado route to chase another state's mythic payout. Freight eats the dream. Plants pay for clean pounds they can run. [9] [11]
Use other state guides to steal checklist ideas. Use AMS for the number. [1]
What would I skip if I were starting a Colorado route?
I would skip a new vacuum truck, a leased warehouse, and any consultant selling a statewide yellow grease license that does not exist. I would also skip paying restaurants before I have a written buyer and a lab method.
I would file the LLC, open the DOR account, call Denver or my home utility about FOG, and get insurance quotes on the actual GVWR. [2] [3] [13] I would put locks on every tote the first week. I would not wrap a fleet.
A CDL chassis is a waste if a lighter truck covers sealed totes. Confirm Colorado DMV class limits before you fall in love with a heavy dump. [14] Crossing state lines with a 10,001 pound truck is the USDOT line. Stay in state and under that weight and you may avoid a pile of federal registration. Confirm, because one Nebraska drop changes the answer. [6]
Feed registration is a skip until you actually sell as feed. Most biodiesel tickets are not commercial feed labels. If you later bag product for animals, then call CDA. [7] [8]
The $50 and $10 SOS fees are not the business. They are the cover sheet. [2]
Where do Colorado yellow grease costs hide after month one?
After the filing receipts, cost hides in bad accounts, winter viscosity, stolen totes, and tickets that pay on a worse FFA than you smelled. The AMS week can move while oil sits in a lot. [1] That is inventory risk. It is real.
City inspections show up when you start pumping traps or when a neighbor reports a sheen. [13] A yard that looks like a dump invites a solid waste conversation under Title 30. [12] Keep it boring.
Lab retests, detention at a plant, and a rejected load are weekend killers. Budget a dump plan that is legal. Do not pour a reject into a storm drain. That is how a cheap route becomes a water case.
If you want a paper stack for bin control and renderer tickets, the kit on /start is the only product YellowGreasePath sells. Use it or do not. The reference above stands without it. This publisher is not a service company and not a law firm. Confirm fees, quotes, and wait times with the SOS, DOR, CDA, FMCSA, and the city that owns the sewer.
Price the route every quarter. The tape will not do it for you. [1]
Frequently asked questions
Do you need a license for yellow grease in Colorado?
No single statewide collector license exists. You still need an entity, often a sales tax account, and whatever FOG or hauler registration your cities require if you pump interceptors. Selling as animal feed triggers Colorado Department of Agriculture commercial feed registration. Confirm each city and board. Do not buy a fake state grease card.
How much does yellow grease cost in Colorado?
Colorado does not publish a state price. Collectors and plants start from the USDA AMS National Weekly Ag Energy Round-Up, then adjust for freight, FFA, and MIU. Many restaurants pay $0 for fryer oil pickup. Confirm this week's cents per pound on the AMS PDF. Broker screenshots without a week stamp are not a market.
How long does yellow grease take in Colorado?
Entity filings often post the same day online, but that is not a guarantee. City FOG accounts run on local clocks. A tote may take weeks to fill. Renderer onboarding and lab tickets can outlast the oil. Confirm current processing times with the SOS, the city utility, and the buyer. No approval timing promises.
Is yellow grease the same as grease trap waste in Colorado?
No. Yellow grease is used fryer oil. Trap waste is brown grease mixed with water and solids. Cities regulate trap pumping through FOG and sewer rules. Renderers and biodiesel plants price yellow grease as a feedstock. Mixing them on one ticket creates lab and wastewater problems. Quote trap work as a separate job.
Do I pay sales tax when I sell yellow grease in Colorado?
It depends on the buyer and the exemption paperwork. The state rate is 2.9 percent before local districts stack. A sales tax license application has no state fee, but that does not make a load exempt. Ask the Colorado Department of Revenue or a CPA before you skip tax. Keep certificates on file.
Does Colorado require a USDOT number for a grease truck?
FMCSA requires a USDOT number for many interstate commercial motor vehicles at 10,001 pounds GVWR or actual weight, plus other listed triggers. A Denver only route under that weight may sit outside that federal net. One drop across a state line can change it. Confirm on the FMCSA registration page with your real truck and radius.
Can I sell yellow grease as animal feed in Colorado?
Yes, but then you are in the Colorado Commercial Feed Act. The Colorado Department of Agriculture Inspection and Consumer Services division handles product registration and labels. Biodiesel tickets are usually not feed sales. Confirm current registration steps and fees with CDA before you print a feed claim. Do not invent a label.
Who publishes the yellow grease price Colorado buyers use?
The USDA Agricultural Marketing Service National Weekly Ag Energy Round-Up is the public tape most people start from. It is a weekly PDF, often a Central U.S. FOB quote in cents per pound. EIA Table 3 shows national biodiesel feedstock pounds, not a Colorado restaurant payout. Confirm the week you are selling.
Do Denver restaurants have to use a licensed grease hauler?
Denver's FOG program focuses on interceptor grease and sewer protection. Trap pumpers should expect city registration and disposal rules. Sealed fryer oil totes can fall under a different conversation. Confirm with Denver Wastewater for the work you actually do. A restaurant cannot waive a city sewer rule with a handshake.
What tests cut a Colorado renderer check?
Free fatty acid, moisture, impurities, and unsaponifiables are the usual fight. Plants pay on net clean pounds, not on what the tote looked like at the alley. Your contract should name the method and the discount scale. The DOE and NREL biodiesel handling guide explains why dirty feedstock is a process problem. Keep a dated sample.
How much is a Colorado LLC for a grease route?
The Secretary of State charges $50 to file articles of organization and $10 for the periodic report, per the published business fee schedule. Confirm those figures on the current SOS fee page before you file. Local licenses, insurance, and the truck will dwarf those two lines. The LLC is a cover sheet, not the business.
Is used cooking oil hazardous waste in Colorado?
Ordinary used fryer oil is not federal used oil under 40 CFR 279.1, which covers crude based or synthetic used oil. It is also not automatically hazardous waste. Spills, mixing with solvents, or treating it like trash can change the answer. Ask CDPHE or the county if your storage looks like a solid waste site. Keep totes closed.
What insurance do Colorado collectors usually carry?
Commercial auto and general liability are the base. Ask a broker about pollution coverage for a gutter spill, and workers comp if you have staff. There is no honest statewide premium I can publish. Quote your real GVWR, radius, and whether you pump traps. Cheap policies that exclude spills are a false saving.
Do I need a CDL to haul yellow grease in Colorado?
Not for every tote truck. CDL class generally follows vehicle weight, combination, and hazmat placard rules. Typical sealed yellow grease is not a placarded hazardous material. A heavy chassis can force a CDL you did not need. Confirm class with Colorado DMV before you buy the truck. Do not take a forum post as a license.
Sources
- USDA AMS National Weekly Ag Energy Round-Up: USDA Agricultural Marketing Service publishes a weekly public energy report that includes yellow grease price quotes used by buyers and collectors.
- Colorado Secretary of State business document fees: Colorado charges $50 to file LLC articles of organization and $10 for the LLC periodic report.
- Colorado Department of Revenue sales tax license page: A Colorado sales tax license application has no state fee.
- 40 CFR 279.1 Used oil definitions: Federal used oil means oil refined from crude oil or synthetic oil that has been used and contaminated, which does not describe ordinary used cooking oil.
- EPA Approved Pathways for Renewable Fuel: EPA lists approved Renewable Fuel Standard pathways that include yellow grease as a biodiesel feedstock.
- FMCSA Do I Need a USDOT Number: FMCSA requires a USDOT number for specified interstate commercial motor vehicles, including many at 10,001 pounds GVWR or actual weight.
- Colorado Department of Agriculture commercial feed program: Selling yellow grease as animal feed in Colorado falls under CDA Inspection and Consumer Services commercial feed registration.
- Colorado Revised Statutes Title 35 (Commercial Feed Act compilation): Colorado's Commercial Feed Act in Title 35 governs registration of commercial feed manufactured or labeled in the state.
- EIA Monthly Biodiesel Production Report Table 3: EIA Table 3 reports monthly U.S. biodiesel feedstock inputs, including yellow grease pounds.
- Colorado Department of Revenue sales tax rates: Colorado's state sales tax rate is 2.9 percent before local and special district rates stack.
- DOE/NREL Biodiesel Handling and Use Guide (Fifth Edition): The DOE and NREL handling guide explains biodiesel feedstock quality issues such as free fatty acid and contamination that affect plant intake.
- Colorado Revised Statutes Title 30 (solid wastes / county powers compilation): Title 30, article 20 is Colorado's county solid wastes disposal chapter that can touch hauling and sites.
- Colorado DMV commercial vehicles page: Colorado DMV sets commercial vehicle registration and directs CDL class questions for heavier chassis.