Dealing with fat, oil and grease in your food business

If you handle and store waste fat, oil and grease, you have a legal duty of care to ensure these are disposed of properly.

How to dispose of fat, oil and grease waste

There are specific ways you must handle, store and dispose of waste fat, oil and grease, for health and safety as well as environmental reasons:

• Collect fats, oil and grease waste in air-tight, sealed (leak-proof) containers to prevent odours and to avoid attracting vermin.
• Store containers in a secure area away from all drains to prevent spills and leaks from causing water pollution.
• Your containers should be collected by an authorised commercial waste contractor for recycling or correct disposal. 
• Don't pour waste fats, oils and grease down drains or sewers. This leads to blockages, odour and vermin problems, as well as polluting local rivers and streams.
• Don't dispose of oil, fat and grease with your other waste. Contractors may refuse to remove it, and there may be odour or pollution problems.
• Don't take used cooking oil to household waste recycling centres. These sites do not usually accept business waste.
• Used cooking oils must not be used in animal feed - there are laws against this.

Avoid using food macerators

Some catering outlets use food macerators to dispose of leftover food scraps. Macerators are designed to chop or grind food into small pieces before washing them into the drainage system. However, you should avoid using these devices to dispose of fat, oil and grease as these combine with bits of food in the drain and become solid, building up in the drainage system and causing blockages.

Waste treatment options

You should also consider how you can treat your waste. Options include:

• using grease traps in your food business
• biological dosing systems for fats, oils and grease
• biofuels and composting - see how to reuse wasted resources in your business

For more information about legal controls on handling, storing and disposing of waste, see duty of care for business waste.