Overview
- On Monday, July 27, 2026, researchers led by Alejandra Chávez Riveros and chemical engineering students confirmed Es-Pumita is a registered UNAM brand being used in a pilot at FES Zaragoza Campus II.
- The team collects about 20 liters of used cooking oil each week from campus cafeterias and clarifies, filters, and purifies it before saponifying the oil with a strong alkali to make soap.
- Each production run yields roughly six to ten liters of liquid soap and the formula includes glycerin, EDTA, vitamin E and fragrances while relying chiefly on fatty-acid salts from saponification for biodegradability.
- Project leaders say the effort targets environmental harm from improper oil disposal — stating that one liter of oil can contaminate up to 40,000 liters of water and that oil buildup contributes to clogged drains and local flood risk in eastern Mexico City.
- Next steps include expanding supply to Campus I, finding larger processing and collection space to scale output, and promoting a model that could be replicated by schools and food services with proper training and safety controls.