Reducing Fats, Oils, and Grease in Your Commercial Kitchen

How commercial kitchens can reduce disposing of fats, oil, and grease down the drain.

Any business or institution with a commercial kitchen has to deal with fats, oils, and grease (FOG). Commercial kitchens are found in restaurants, hospitals, churches, hotels, nursing homes, mobile food preparation facilities, etc.

Using best management practices such as those listed on the poster Let’s Tackle the Grease in This Kitchen (link below) can:

Lessen the likelihood of losing revenue to emergency shutdowns caused by sewage backups and expensive bills for plumbing and property repairs.
Lessen the likelihood of lawsuits by nearby businesses over sewer problems caused by your negligence.
Lessen the likelihood of lawsuits from workers or the public exposed to raw sewage during a backup.
Reduce the number of times you have to pump and clean your grease interceptors or traps.
Lessen the likelihood of surcharges from your local sewer authority, or chargebacks for repairs to sewer pipes attributable to your FOG.
Reduce testing requirements imposed due to a history of violations.
Lessen the likelihood of enforcement action by local authorities due to violations of ordinances.

Compliance Tools

Let's Tackle the Grease in This Kitchen! English Version and ¡Ataquemos a la Grasa en Esta Cocina! Spanish Version – This poster is available in English and Spanish for commercial kitchens. Camera-ready art is also available, so that you can customize the poster with your establishment’s name. Call 800-447-2827 or send an email to TexasEnviroHelp@tceq.texas.gov to order camera-ready art.
Fats, Oils, and Grease Management Plan Checklist – The City of Golden Valley MN has created a checklist to help food service establishments avoid FOG related problems.

Small Business and Local Government Assistance

TCEQ's Small Business and Local Government Assistance section offers free, confidential help to small businesses and local governments working to follow state environmental regulations. Call us at 800-447-2827 or visit our webpage at TexasEnviroHelp.org.