Most of us think of grease as liquid and assume it’s okay to put down the disposal. But – we would be wrong. In general, garbage disposals CAN handle liquids but grease doesn’t always stay liquid. Once it cools, it does solidify to some extent. And that is when the problems begin.
There is a very long list of items that should NOT go into your garbage disposal – you can see our list here – and grease is just one of them.
Can You Pour Bacon Grease Down The Garbage Disposal?
Some people may think that bacon grease, for whatever reason, is not the same as other types of grease but again – that is a wrong assumption.
Bacon grease, especially when it’s hot should never, ever be pourded down the garbage disposal drain.
Why You Shouldn’t Put Grease Down The Drain?
The reality is, as we said earlier, that although grease looks like “liquid” as you are pouring in down your kitchen sink – that liquid form is not consistent. In other words, grease turns into a solid form once it’s cooled down.
So, imagine that grease going down your kitchen sink drain, moving through the pipes, into your sewer system. It may still be in liquid form or it may already be in the process of solidifying a bit.
Now, that clump of grease that started in your kitchen is mixed in with your city’s wastewater which has chemicals and may have grease from other households. All that combination creates a more solid waxy type of substance. Sort of like coconut oil when it’s in it’s solid form.
Now, that sticky, waxy substance begins to stick to the sewer pipes (commonly called “fatberg”) and as other blobs of sticky grease come by and stick to it, that “fatberg” just gets bigger and bigger. Very much like a snowball rolling down the hill collecting more and more snow, getting bigger and bigger.
The difference here is that the fatberg is inside a contained space, a sewer pipe with limited amount of space. It’s easy to see how that blob, as it gets bigger and bigger will eventually cause a clog and then eventually, you will experience all the damage that a clogged sewer drain can cause.
Just to remind you – the signs of a clogged drain are often…
- Gurgling sounds from your drains or toilets
- Water backing up out of drains or toilets
- Water pooling around drains or toilets
- Smell of raw sewage coming from your drains
No one wants to deal with any of these issues so again – DO NOT pour grease down your garbage disposal or kitchen sink.
How Do You Dispose Of Grease?
Okay, so if you can’t pour that stuff down the sink – how do you properly get rid of it?
1) You can do what many grandparents raised in the southeastern part of the USA have done, that is to designate a container (like a coffee can) to pour the grease into. You do, however want to make sure to pour the grease through a strainer into that container. You can keep this container on the counter. But, if you plan to use that oil again then keep it in the refrigerator. Note: never re-use oil that you fried fish in or if that oil smoked.
2) If you will not be re-using the grease in the container you can bring it to a recycling center in your community. Note that not ALL recycling centers accept used grease so make sure to call before you get in the car to go down there.
Following are a few of the recycling centers in and around the Atlanta Georgia area that will accept used grease.
Center for Hard to Recycle Materials
1110 Hill Street SE,
Atlanta, Ga
404-600-6386
Southern Green Industries
4565 Frederick Dr
Atlanta, Ga
404-419-6887
ACC Recycling
725 Hancock Industrial Way
Athens, GA
706-613-3512
ACC Landfill
5700 Lexington Road
Athens, GA
706-613-3508
Merk Miles Transfer Station
3225 Mark Road
College Park, GA
404-629-1700
Sandy Springs Recycling Center
470 Morgan Falls Road
Sandy Springs, GA 30350
770-551-7766
Roswell Recycling Center
11570 Maxwell Road
Roswell, GA 30009
770-442-8822
3) A creative way to re-use cooking oil and grease is to make soap out of it. This is a fun and crafty way to make use of your oil!
4) You can also re-use cooking oil to grease gardening tools, to remove pollen, bugs, grime and dirt from many surfaces and it can even help to remove paint from your hands. There are many ways that you can creatively re-use cooking oil and grease.
Check out the website at Mahoneys.com for more.
If you have any questions about garbage disposals or are having some problems with it, call Atlantis Plumbing today at 770-505-8570. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.