Collecting fats and oils from professional kitchens

Why install a grease trap? It is mandatory, and very important from an environmental point of view, to separate vegetable oils properly and have them collected by dedicated organisations. Once cooking oil has been thrown down the sink, it ends up in the main sewer and causes: - blockages and bad smells in the pipework - the suffocation of the bacteria responsible for purifying water (which prevents its oxygenation) - an increase in the (significant) maintenance costs of sanitation systems and wastewater treatment plants - the proliferation of micro-organisms harmful to health This obligation is regulated by the French Environmental Code (Article L 541-21-1) and by the sanitation regulations of the local authority (town hall, community of communes, urban community, etc.). The regulations specify that fatty effluents must not be discharged into sewerage networks without pre-treatment. This is to protect the condition of the pipes and the proper functioning of wastewater treatment plants. Indeed, fatty waste can damage sanitation infrastructure and hinder water treatment if it is discharged directly into the public sewerage network. It is in this sense that it is important to have your oils collected, as they can be taken to a biomethanisation plant, a food sludge recovery site or a renderer. What is a grease trap? It is a container, of varying size, that receives the wastewater from the dishwashing area, dishwashers or floor drains of a restaurant. It captures the fats present in the wastewater. There are two types of grease trap: - conventional grease traps, which are generally quite large and installed underground or in a basement - removable or self-cleaning grease traps. They are small and installed under the sink of the dishwashing area or near the dishwasher. When should you empty your grease trap? To avoid any overflow, it is strongly recommended to have the grease trap emptied 2 to 5 times a year, at the very minimum. The intervention slips for each pumping must be kept carefully, as they will be useful in the event of an inspection. For removable or self-cleaning grease traps, pumping is not necessary. However, the fats must still be collected and the trap cleaned regularly in-house. The fats collected must be picked up by a specialist company (intervention slips should also be kept). For a restaurateur, it is preferable to have the trap emptied once a month, because restaurant kitchen fats ferment quickly, which leads to even more bad smells. In addition, the waste deposited at the bottom of the trap reduces the space intended for clear water. As a result, the trap can no longer work properly.

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France