Oil and Grease Management NC Division of Pollution Prevention and Environmental Assistance Cary, NC October 19, 1999

Grease is the Word… Grease commonly refers to the fats, oils and waxes found in wastewater Grease in the Food Industry comes from butter, lard, vegetable fats and oils, meats, nuts and cereals Grease or FOG (Fats, Oils and Grease) by any other name is still a nuisance

Why Is Grease a Problem? Fats are among the more stable of the organic compounds and are not easily decomposed by bacteria Fats coat, congeal, and accumulate on pipes, pumps, and equipment and sometimes obstruct lines

BEWARE THE GREASE GOBLIN! **ALL POINTS** *BULLETIN* Be On the Lookout for the Grease Goblin Last Seen Loitering in Sinks and Drains Wanted for: Causing Unsanitary and Costly Sewer Overflows

Where is Grease Generated?

Generation Patterns by Fixture in Full-Service Restaurants

Generation Patterns by Fixture in Fast Food Restaurants

Where does Grease Go When It Leaves the Restaurant? INLET GREASE FOOD PARTICLES OUTLET

Basic Interceptor Types Passive * In-Ground * Manual Automatic

Passive Interceptors Manually cleaned Must be correctly sized to be effective Regular cleanings are important - under sink must be daily - in-ground every 30 days (variances may be granted) Should be cleaned at 75% FOG capacity Efficiency decreases as volume of FOG increases

Automatic Interceptors Uses self-skimmer to remove FOGs Eliminates need for periodic pumping Most efficient type-removal efficiencies can reach 98% Automatic interceptors are permissible upon prior written approval of authorities

Maintenance of Interceptor In-ground interceptors must be cleaned every 30 days Under-sink units must be cleaned every 2 –3 days as per Plumbing and Drainage Institute (PDI) Recommendations Biological Treatments are conditionally permissible Facility must keep cleaning records on file for 3 years - clean-out date and time - signature of owner/manager - receipt from clean-out firm Hot water flushing is prohibited

What Can I Do To Avoid the Problem?

Control Grease at the Source Source Control – minimize or eliminate sources Spill Prevention Pretreatment: * Use Grease Traps, Skimmers, Separators, Process Flow Treatment Systems Such as Carbon Filtration or Coagulation Units

Choose Your Weapon! The Rubber Scraper: Your First & Best Defense

Clean-Up Is Important Remember to use clean-up hierarchy to avoid generating grease: 1) DRY CLEAN UP- Scrape Out Excess 2) USE PRIMARY & SECONDARY WASH 3) REMEMBER: - when you reduce waste at the source, you dont have to deal with it later

Other Preventative Measures Educate staff on proper dry clean up and maintenance of grease trap Screen floor drains Process Change - pots and pans cleaned at pot wash sink which has an interceptor Remove food grinders unless trap is the large in-ground type and control authority okays it Insure inert materials such as plastics, styrofoam and cigarette butts are kept out of grease traps

Best Management Practices Use this checklist to ensure you are properly managing your FOG. We practice dry clean-up. We train all of our kitchen staff on oil and grease management. We never hot flush oil and grease down our sinks and drains. A grease interceptor is located outside the facility. A grease trap is located inside the facility. We pump our oil and grease weekly? Monthly? We keep all records of grease pumping for the period of time specified by local ordinance (Town of Cary – 3 years) The following fixtures are connected to a trap or interceptor: a. Wall or floor-mounted sinks b. Automatic dishwashers c. floor drains d. woks e. pulper f. garbage disposal (conditional) g. can wash

Renderers are Grease Recyclers ! Oil and Grease Renderers will collect the material from your grease trap and divert it to a useful purpose A rendering company will provide service on a weekly, monthly or on-call basis Rendering companies provide receipts for service which should be kept on file for a three year period (Town of Cary Ordinance)

How is it Processed? When it is rendered for animal feed – Samples are taken for pesticides, etc. Its placed in a settling tank, to settle out solids. Its heated in a vacuum to volatize impurities and then resold When it is composted – Samples are taken. Then it is mixed with a bulking agent before composting.

What Happens to the Grease? Animal Feed Additives (poultry and hog) Soaps (tallow) OilsCosmetics and Skin Care Products LanolinCompost and vermiculture

What are Hauler Costs? Servicing Fees a) no charge, or b) receive revenue (approx. $0.005/lb - $0.015/lb) c) medium food grade grease approx. $0.076/lb d) charge for pumping ($125 -$150 per)

Where Do I Find a Grease Recycler? NC Directory of Markets for Recyclable Materials – September, Local Resources Leon Holt – Pretreatment Inspector – Duffy Strigo – Chief Plumbing & Mechanical Inspector Jennifer Platt – Cary Water Conservation Officer –

Grease Processors/Renderers CBP Resources Inc. – Charlie Cheek (910) Enterprise Rendering Co. – Carroll Braun, Jr. (704) McGill Environmental Systems – (910) CBP/Valley Proteins Inc. (704) East Coast Resources – Wallace Woodall (919)

CUTTING WASTE MAKES $EN$E REMEMBER: Reduce: Control waste at its source Reuse: Choose to Reuse and save money Recycle: Recycle cans, bottles, paper, plastic and cardboard from your business Rescue: Donate food material to a local charity and avoid hauling charges Recover: Oil and Grease can be diverted from the waste stream, inedible food waste can be used as animal feed or can be composted

Where Do I Begin? A KICK-OFF MEMO FROM MANAGEMENT EMPLOYEE FEEDBACK ORIENTATION SESSIONS CONTINUED PROMOTION THROUGH UPDATES AND REMINDERS POSTERS, SIGNS, AND PUBLIC INFORMATION REWARDS AND SPECIAL EVENTS (EARTH DAY, AMERICAN RECYCLES DAY)