How do you properly dispose of kitchen grease, and why is it important?
When preparing meals in the kitchen, fats and oils are often used, and grease is typically leftover. Fats, oils, and grease, sometimes referred to as F.O.G., can be a form of pollution if not disposed of properly.
Fats, such as butter; cooking oils; and leftover cooking grease, can have harmful effects when poured down drains. They will eventually cool and solidify in your septic or sewer lines causing unwanted backups, overflows, or system failure.
Never pour cooking oils or grease down the drain!
Instead, can or bottle your kitchen grease, allow it to cool, and then seal and dispose of at a local recycling center or in your household trash. And be sure to remove any remaining F.O.G. from pans and dishes by scraping and absorbing with a paper towel. Hot water and soap do not eliminate F.O.G. because they will eventually reform and solidify in pipes.
Cooking oils and leftover cooking grease from home kitchens should be disposed of at a local recycling center or in the garbage in a sealed container.
Guinn Wallover, ©2019, Clemson Extension
Reusable lids can be used to store fats, oils, and grease in steel/tin soup cans until they are full and ready for proper disposal.
Steven O’Shields, Clemson Extension.
For more information, visit HGIC 1878, F.O.G. (Fats, Oils, and Grease) Pollution.
