When we cook with oil, butter or fatty foods such as ground beef or bacon, grease accumulates and oftentimes ends up in the bottom of your pan. Afterwards, you may be questioning what you should do with it. If you want to dispose of it in your kitchen sink, Joe Mouawad, general manager of Eastern Municipal Water District, sternly recommends you don’t.
“Fats, oils and grease are incredibly harmful to our wastewater collection system,” he says. “When FOG is poured down your drain, it quickly hardens and causes blockages in the system.”
This type of blockage can wreak havoc on your pipes and it’s extremely common. According to New York City’s 2019 State of the Sewers report, 66% of sewer backups were determined to be caused by grease.
When grease from multiple pipes builds up, it can also cause something that UK sewage treatment company Thames Water dubbed “fatbergs.” Think icebergs but instead of being made up of ice, a fatberg is fat, grease and garbage (frequently wipes) that become trapped in sewage drains after being disposed of through pipes. In 2017, Thames Water shared a video of an 820-foot, 130-ton fatberg in a sewage system, which took weeks and millions of dollars to remove, the BBC reported.
Because of the multitude of issues that built-up grease can cause, experts warn against ever pouring any amount of it down the drain. Here’s everything to know about safely disposing of cooking grease.
Why is pouring cooking grease down the drain so harmful?
Although grease may go down your drain in liquid form, the problems occur once it cools and hardens, which will cause blockages in your home’s sewer pipes and even “the main pipelines under the street,” Mouawad says.
These specific types of blockages are “very difficult to clear out and it blocks the flow of wastewater through the system,” Mouawad adds. “If wastewater is blocked from flowing through the system, it can back up, sometimes resulting in a costly fix inside your home.”
Once the grease has hardened in your pipes, it can also form a “sludge” that continues to grow as additional liquids and food particles go down the drain.
“A FOG clog can lead to a sewage backup not just in your home, but also outside, where it can contaminate bodies of water,” Mouawad says.
How much does it cost to clear a clogged drain?
According to Consumer Affairs, when a plumber has to be called for simple kitchen sink clogs, the price typically ranges from $150 to $350. However more involved clogs, including ones that are caused by large fatbergs, can cost much more.
Read more: Why You Should Never Use Chemical Drain Clog Remover, According to a Plumber
How to dispose of cooking grease
Because cooking grease hardens when it cools, you can pour the grease into a disposable container, such as a can, jar or takeout container, and wait for it to harden, then throw it in the trash. And no, cooking grease, lard and excess oil can’t be composted.
Alternatively, you can strain any food particles from the grease and store it in the refrigerator for future use while cooking.
Read more: How to Use Leftover Bacon Grease Like a Pro
There are plenty of ways to reuse your bacon grease, from seasoning your cast iron skillet to flavoring your burgers.
What to do if you accidentally pour grease down your drain
If you inadvertently pour grease down your drain, Mouawad says, you must take “immediate action.”
“Rinse the drain with very hot water mixed with a generous amount of degreasing dish soap to keep it from solidifying,” he says.
But he doesn’t recommend using drain cleaning products such as Drano.
“We discourage putting any type of chemical down the drain,” he says. “It can break down your plumbing and compromise the health of our sewer systems.”
Keep in mind, however, that using boiling water and degreasing dish soap are not permanent solutions.
“If you continue pouring FOG down the drain, no amount of degreasing is going to save your pipes,” Mouawad says. “Eventually you will be forced to call in a professional to see how much damage has been done. This can be a costly problem and one that affects other systems throughout your home.”
