Many people think that flushing fats away with hot water and washing up liquid makes them magically disappear. But it doesn’t. Spoiler alert – there are no actual fairies in Fairy Liquid.
Instead, thousands of tonnes of fats, oils and grease flow into our sewers each year forming gigantic fatbergs – a disaster in the making.
It’s not a nice subject to talk about but education is vital. Many people are not aware that even small amounts of food substances, such as crumbs, butter, margarine, lard, cooking sauce, should never go down the drain.
It’s not always obvious. Did you know that even milk is fatty enough to contribute to a blockage?
In areas without food waste collection services, waste fats, leftover sauces and milk should be poured into containers and disposed of as general waste.
What can we do about it?
For one thing we need to spread the word about what a great resource used cooking oil is. Many residents are unaware that there are facilities at hundreds of recycling centres across the country for the collection of used cooking oil.
The collected oil is refined into a biofuel to create green electricity. If there is no such provision in your area, ask the local councillors responsible for recycling to look into providing one.
Fortunately our local authority runs such a scheme. We collect our used cooking oil in the OLIMAX recycling container and take it for disposal to our local household recycling centre.
The oil is collected by vehicles converted to run on the same biofuel and taken to purpose-made generators. Once refined, the biofuel has huge potential – one litre generates enough clean electricity to make 240 cups of tea, while one tonne can provide enough to power the average home for a year.
Adding used cooking oil to the collection facility at the local household recycling centre
What about wet wipes?
Wet wipes flushed down toilets cause 93 per cent of sewer blockages and in the UK we use 11 billion of them a year. Most wet wipes contain 90 per cent plastic, which is almost as bad as putting a plastic bag down the loo.
The BBC nature documentary Blue Planet brought the environmental impact of wet wipes to the public’s attention in 2017, creating demand for flushable products.
But many wet wipes labelled as “flushable” contain hidden plastics, and do not actually break down properly in the drain despite advertising claims.
Plastics in seas and oceans
Wet wipes aren’t the only nasties containing hidden plastics that get flushed away, and the damage doesn’t end in sewers.
Millions of pieces of plastic end up in rivers and seas every day, causing huge damage to wildlife and the environment.
These plastics are found in:
Disposable gloves
Nappies
Facemasks
Cotton buds
Contact lenses
Plasters
Bandages
Razor blades
Dental floss
Period products
Condoms
Plastic in the oceans breaks down into microplastics, which poison the ecosystem. When plastic in the water does eventually break down from exposure to the sun, it releases greenhouse gases in the form of methane and ethylene.
For more information, tips and advice about how to help save our sewers and seas read about the Unblocktober campaign here.