Fats, oils and grease includes food scraps, meat fats, lard, cooking oil, butter/margarine and sauces.

When poured down the drain, fats, oils and grease can block sewer lines and create backups. Backups can lead to basement flooding and sewage overflowing onto City streets. This property damage is expensive for the City and residents to fix.

You are responsible for a backup that happens on your property.

How to dispose of fats, oils and grease properly

Fats and grease:

•   Store in a certified compostable container. Once cooled and solidified, dispose of the compostable container in your green organics cart.
•  Store in a metal container. Once cooled and solidified, scrape into your green organics cart.
•  Use a paper towel to wipe remaining grease off of a cooking sheet or pan before washing.
•  Dispose of all paper towel used to wipe up fats and grease in the green organics cart.
•  Use a strainer in your kitchen sink to catch food scraps before they go down the drain.

Cooking oil:

•  Small amounts of cooking oil can be soaked into a paper towel and placed in your green organics cart.
•  Larger amounts of household cooking oil should be placed in a sealable container, labelled as cooking oil and taken to the Eco Centre. Please note: commercial quantities of cooking oil cannot be accepted at the Eco Centre.

How not to dispose of fats, oils and grease:

•  Don’t use hot water or detergents to rinse grease off of cookware, utensils, dishes or surfaces. These products only move the grease further down the line where they can cause problems in the sewer system.
•  Don’t pour fats, oils and grease down your garburator. Garburators may break down food materials into smaller pieces, but they don’t prevent fats, oils and grease from going down the drain.
•  Don’t pour cooking oil directly over other materials in your green organics cart.
•  Don’t pour fats, oils and grease down the toilet. Protect the sewer lines in the bathroom: the toilet is not a trash can.

Frequently asked questions