Pre-packed oils always have a plastic element – if it comes in bottles it will have a plastic lined cap and probably a plastic pouring widget in the bottle top. Buy it in cans and there will be more plastic caps plus the cans are plastic lined. Read more here.
If you are lucky you might find a place that sell oils on tap. Then you may be able to use your own refillable bottle.
Glass Bottles
Buy in glass and the metal caps will have a little plasticized disc or plastic liner on inside and maybe a plastic seal. Plus the bottle will almost always have a plastic pouring widget in the bottle top.Like I can’t pour oil out of a bottle???
Buy
You can buy these oils from every supermarket in the UK. They can be expensive though.
In Cans
And who can afford to use such expensive treats for making chips? Not me. I need a plastic free source of cheap veg oil. Thought cans might be the answer. sadly not. The cans have a plastic lid and handle and are almost certainly lined with plastic. Nearly all cans are to prevent the cans corroding. You can read more here
On the plus side the can has a high recycle value.
Buy
If I need vegetable oil in quantities I go with the can which I buy from . Khadims the Asian Supermarket on Blacker Road Huddersfield. Many supermarkets also do oil in cans.
On Tap
If you are lucky you might find a place that sell oils on tap. Then you may be able to use your own refillable bottle.
Buy
You can find a U.K. wide list of places that sell oil on tap here
Where From & Made How?
Other things to consider when choosing which oil to buy are product miles and how your oil was extracted.
Product Miles
Product miles are of course how far a product has to travel and the environmental costs attached. The carbon cost of importing heavy glass bottles full of olive oil is high. If choosing an imported oil you might prefer to buy a can over a bottle. Cans are lighter and costs less to transport.
Or you could choose a locally sourced oil. The only oil grown in the U.K. in any quantities is rapeseed oil. You can get this in glass bottles in store or 5 liter cans online. More about rapeseed oil here.
Petrol In My Vegetable Oil? Most commercially produced oils are solvent extracted. This involves a chemical solvent like the petroleum-derived hexane and heat up to 500 degrees. Once the oil is dissolved, the solvent is removed by distillation.
This technique is used for most of the “newer” oils such as soybean and cannola oils. Many of these products do not give up their oil easily, it has to be forced from them. Cold pressed oils are a better option. You can read more here.
More
About oils, waxes and butters