Vegetable oil

• Are you ever tempted to pour used cooking oil down the sink?
• What about that half-used tin of paint in the cupboard?
• It would be so easy just to wash it down the drain, wouldn’t it?

A disaster for our sewerage systems

• I’ve contacted many of our water utilities across Australia for this article.
• They are in broad agreement: please don’t put oil, fats, grease or paint or other chemicals down the sink.

The worst culprits

• They rate “fats, oils and grease” as the worst culprits.
• Western Australia’s Water Corporation estimates 30% of sewer blockages are due to fats, oils and grease.
• These particularly include hair and so-called “flushable wipes” (which, despite the name, should not be flushed down the loo).

Uncontrolled release of raw sewage

• They can trigger the uncontrolled release of raw and untreated sewage into the environment.
• I have seen raw sewage flowing in public places, parks, people’s backyards, shopping centres, thanks to blocked pipes.

So what am I supposed to do instead with oils?

• With some careful preparations diesel engines can run on cooking oil.
• It is particularly important the food industry carefully manage their waste as it can generate very large volumes of fats, oil and grease.
• Even just disposing of fats, oils and grease into the rubbish and landfill is much better than tipping it down the sink.

What about tipping that old paint down the sink?

• GWM Water, the water service for regional western Victoria, says paint, oils, lubricants, pesticides and thinners should not go down the sink.
• They can damage sewer pipes, cause pollution and create fumes which can be dangerous for maintenance workers.

What should I do instead with old paint?

• The paint industry encourages all people to take unwanted paints to a “Paintback” dropoff centre.
• This industry-funded scheme aims to reduce the risks of unsafe disposal of unwanted paint products and maximise recycling.