Team O-LIVE is Claudia Cappella, Pietro Caramia and Marianna Ciaccia from the University of Bari Aldo Moro in Italy.
It is estimated that in Europe alone, four million tonnes of waste cooking oils (WCOs) are produced annually, with only 792 ktons currently collected. Disposing of WCOs in nature has a negative impact on flora and fauna. Team O-LIVE focused on making resources for the cosmetic industry WCOs. They obtain oleic acid from the WCOs using an enzymatic reaction catalysed by lipase. This oleic acid is then used to make oleyl alcohol, a biocompatible resource in the cosmetic industry as an emollient, solvent, viscosity control and perfuming agent. Their enzymatic processes replace the chemical synthesis usually used to produce oleyl alcohol.
