Cleaning and servicing your restaurant’s grease traps is just the first step to managing such waste materials.  Once it’s in our trucks, then what? Well, it’s off to the recycling professionals who transform all that grease into a bio-fuels.

Watch this video to learn how your restaurant’s grease trap contents are converted into bio-fuels.

Grease Trap Requirements

Source: City Of Toronto 
The City of Toronto Sewers Bylaw, Municipal Code Chapter 681, requires all commercial, industrial and institutional food facilities to dispose of fats, oils and grease properly and to install and maintain a proper interceptor (also known as a “grease trap”) on appropriate plumbing fixtures.

What is a Grease Trap?

A grease trap, or grease interceptor, is a plumbing device designed to “trap” and prevent grease from entering the sewer system and causing sewer pipe blockages. How Does a Grease Trap Work? • A grease trap should be connected to any fixture or drain that discharges wastewater containing oil and grease, including sinks for washing dishes, floor drains, drains serving self-cleaning exhaust hoods and cooking equipment. • Wastewater enters the grease trap. • The water cools and the grease and oil harden and float to the top of the trap. • The rest of the wastewater flows through the trap and out the exit pipe to the sanitary sewer. • Solids settle to the bottom. • The fat, oil, grease and solids remain in the trap. • Pumping out a grease interceptor once a month is recommended.

Why is a grease trap important?

When warm fats, oils and grease make their way into the plumbing system, over time they build up and cause a number of problems, including blocked sewers. • Blocked sewers can lead to a sewage backup into your business, neighbouring properties or even local rivers. • Blocked sewers can also lead to increased vermin and contact with disease-causing organisms, all of which pose serious health risks to anyone working in or visiting the restaurant. • Issues caused by blocked sewers could ultimately lead to a temporary or permanent closure of the restaurant by Toronto Public Health. • Costs incurred by the City as a result of a grease-blocked sewer or damage to the sew

City of Toronto Sewers Bylaw, Municipal Code Chapter 681, Basic Requirements and Information For Restaurants

  • Install and maintain a grease interceptor;
  • Limits:
    • Oil & Grease (animal & vegetable) 150 mg/L
    • Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) 300 mg/L
    • Suspended Solids 350 mg/L
    • pH range 6.0 to 11.5

The City of Toronto’s Sewers Bylaw (Municipal Code Chapter 681) controls the quality and quantity of substances discharged into the sanitary and stormwater sewer systems and natural watercourses: http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/municode/1184_681.pdf The City of Toronto’s Water Supply Bylaw (Municipal Code Chapter 851) requires specific measures that will provide reliable metering information, improve operational efficiency and protect the integrity of the water supply system: http://www.toronto.ca/legdocs/municode/1184_851.pdf

What are the results of a sewer blockage from your business?

Source: City of Guelph

A sewer blockage caused by grease accumulation in your home’s sewer pipes may result in:

  • Raw sewage overflowing into your restaurant or neighbouring businesses
  • Raw sewage overflowing into streets, parks, and bodies of water
  • Restaurant and any business upstream of the blockage may be closed by a Public Health Inspector until water can be used again
  • An expensive cleanup that often must be paid by the restaurant, business or building owner
  • A penalty or fine under the City of Guelph’s Sewer Use By-law (1996)-15202 up to a maximum of $100,000.
  • Potential exposure to disease-causing organisms

Restaurant Best Practices

Source: City of Windsor

  • Scrape all food scraps and grease solids into the garbage, not down the sink drain
  • Collect excess grill/frying grease and put it into the waste grease bin for recycling
  • Train staff in grease management
  • Clean up grease spills using an absorbent material (e.g. cat litter) and place in the dry trash bin
  • Ensure mop water and carpet shampoo wastewater is disposed of in the sanitary drain (e.g. mop sink, toilet)
  • Ensure your grease trap is properly sized and cleaned out on a regular basis

Check out their “Proper Disposal Of Restaurant Grease Guide“

Grease recycling | Grease Trap Recycling | Bio-fuels | Oil Recycling | Waste Water | Alternative Fuels