Grease Trap Additives Bad for Environment

Information may not be reliable

Grease interceptors, or grease traps as they are more popularly known, are designed to prevent large quantities of grease from restaurant kitchens and food services areas, to flow into public wastewater disposal systems. Most grease traps are tanks that are designed to separate grease, oil and food from water. They help keep sewage systems free from getting clogged up with large deposits of grease.

Are Additives Good or Bad?

Local ordinances around the country typically require all entities in the food service industry to drain and clean their grease traps at least once a month. Many companies sell what are known as grease trap additives, or grease trap enzymes that supposedly help break down restaurant grease and make it safe for release into the public sewer system. Companies that sell grease trap additives tend to tout their products as a safe and environmentally friendly way to get rid of grease. However, numerous studies have shown that grease trap additives, bacteria and emulsifiers do little to eliminate brown grease and food waste stuck in grease traps.

Harmful to Environment

In fact, grease trap additives may actually cause more harm than good to public sewage and natural water systems. Grease trap additives work by breaking down the carbon bonds that cause grease to congeal and solidify. The additives essentially can turn thick brown grease into a liquid that is capable of flowing into a sewer system or a septic tank. However, once the emulsified grease moves downstream and away from the grease trap it solidifies once again causing blockages and clogs in the sewer system. All fat, oil and grease that is exposed to an additive or grease trap bacteria eventually hardens and sticks to sewer pipes and drains causing enormous problems.

Grease trap additives have sparked concerns about employee health and food safety as well. Many of the products are also relatively expensive to use and end up costing food services companies at least as much as it would have cost them to manually pump-out the grease. The additives have also been known to corrode sewer pipes and actually harm environmentally friendly bacteria that break down grease in passive grease interceptors. In addition, grease trap chemicals do nothing to break down food solids in the grease trap. So food in grease traps will continue to rot, decay and smell even though the grease itself may have been chemically broken down and transported downstream. Often, the anti-bacterial chemicals and soaps that are used by restaurants also kill the additives making them useless from the outset.

Local Governments Prohibit Grease Trap Additives

As a result of such issues, many local governments around the U.S. have prohibited the use of grease trap additives by the food service industry. Typically, such ordinances prohibit the use of any additive, emulsifier or chemical that reduces the amount of grease in a grease tap but causes it to later congeal at a downstream location. Some municipalities even hold companies responsible for sewage cleanup costs if a grease trap additive causes a blockage. The costs of such a cleanup can be extremely high for companies.