Sydney Water to educate businesses about greasy waste

Sydney Water is partnering with the Restaurant and Catering Association of Australia (R&CA) to tackle the problem of fats, oils and greases (FOGS) from food businesses entering the Sydney Water wastewater system after seeing a 30% reduction in blockages during COVID lockdown due to the closure of businesses.

Minister for Water Kevin Anderson said this partnership between Sydney Water and R&CA will support businesses that have been doing it tough for a long time by providing them with a training program.

“This program will help businesses by educating them on how to produce less waste and the best way to dispose of it, as well as how to manage their treatment equipment,” Anderson said.

“It will also encourage businesses to understand the impacts of their actions and become more sustainable, which will benefit them in the long run. High traffic areas like Sydney CBD are being targeted after Sydney Water’s Bondi wastewater treatment plant — which services the Sydney CBD — saw the greatest reduction with flows dropping by 16% during this time.”

Sydney Water’s Head of Business Customers Andy Mckechnie said the statistics show greasy waste is a particular problem for commercial business customers.

“When many businesses were closed, we saw a correlation in our wastewater network with less blockages caused by FOGS. Liquid cooking oils used by restaurants harden as they cool down and act like glue, joining with other waste in our wastewater systems including food scraps and wet wipes to form fatbergs,” Mckechnie said.

“These fatbergs block pipes and can cause wastewater to flow back into premises, streets and the environment.

“Simple things, such as scraping food scraps into the bin, not down the sink, and pouring any used cooking oils into a container and recycling them, all help in a big way.”

For more information visit: www.sydneywater.com.au/commercial

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/Parilov