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To wonder how to get rid of liquid fat?

165 replies

CarlaH · 11/07/2026 11:29

We keep being told not to pour oil or liquid fat down the sink because it causes problems for the water companies.

How are we meant to dispose of it? Googling says we should put it into a glass or plastic container and throw it into the main waste but we are supposed to recycle those things aren't we?

I don't have suitable empty glass or plastic containers just lying around and I certainly don't have plastic containers with lids apart from the ones I want to keep like Tupperware.

What do most people do with it?

OP posts:
pragmatismuniversalsentimentalist · 13/07/2026 11:35

canthavetoomanylights · 11/07/2026 11:33

If it’s a liquid that will solidify when cold I wait till it’s cold then wrap and bin it. If it’s oil that won’t I pour in an empty bottle and bin it.
You can’t possibly put everything in to exactly the right bin so I don’t over think it

I do this - chill it so it's a solid lump then you can just chuck it in the bin.
People putting oils and fats down drains is why there are vast 'fatbergs'.

ForeverDelayedEpiphany · 13/07/2026 11:40

My DH pours the fat from our burgers in the air fryer into an old empty yoghurt pot, lets it solidify then throws it in the bin. Easy as pie 😁

CasperGutman · 13/07/2026 11:43

We collect waste fat in a plastic pot with a well-fitting watertight lid - some brands of houmous use good ones. It takes a good while to fill. Then we wrap the pot in an old plastic bread bag as double containment, and hopefully to help prevent the lid being dislodged. This goes in the general waste bin, which in our area is incinerated in an energy-from-waste plant. I'd imagine it releases plenty of energy when it goes up.

The waste here will be a mix of solid and liquid and room temperature. Yes, we could possibly cool the fats that will solidify and dispose of them separately, but at this time of year they'd surely melt again in the wheelie bin or food waste caddy sitting out in the sun, making a horrible mess.

A downside of this is that one plastic pot and one soft plastic bag are not recycled, but I think this is a lesser evil than blocking the sewers with fat.

Greengage1983 · 13/07/2026 13:15

If its only a few tablespoons, I just leave it to cool then tip it straight in the bin.

hallouminatus · 13/07/2026 13:28

On the compost heap.

Makingsenseofitall · 13/07/2026 13:33

I just collect it in an old jam jar and bin the jar when it is full

FizzingAda · 13/07/2026 13:42

I put a couple of sheets of kitchen roll into the fat or oil to soak it up, when cool put the sheets in a plastic bag (the sort of thin bag you for supermarket veggies), knot and put in the general waste bin.

Piknik · 13/07/2026 13:49

Pour into small bowl, let solidify, bin.

pour into container, bin.

pour into foil, scrunch close, bin.

pour into freezer bag, bin.

poir into freezer bag, freeze to solidify if it’s runny fat, bin.

how is this hard?

Dencar · 13/07/2026 14:11

If you use kitchen paper/paper towel in the kitchen, keep the used pieces and pour the oil over these.
I often have several dirty scrunch up paper towel in the bin, so once any oil/fats have cooled I pour it slowly over these in the bin.

If you have a baby in the house, I often pour oil/fats into a used nappy (obviously just a wet one that wasn’t full).

MAGGIEMAGE · 13/07/2026 14:14

we have a deep fat fryer and when we clean the oil out we put the liquid into the old bottle and leave it out with the food waste bin. Any small amounts of liquid fat goes into the bag in the food waste bin.

tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz · 13/07/2026 14:17

Solmum1964 · 11/07/2026 11:38

I don't have much but pour it into an empty yoghurt pot, wiping what's left into the pot with kitchen towel, then scrunch the kitchen towel into the pot and bin it.
One small yoghurt pot isn't going to make much difference compared with the damage that's done by pouring it down the drain.
If I roast something like a chicken, I line the pan with foil first. Let the fat congeal and fold the foil round it before binning

I’m a peasant and when the cooking tray for the chicken is empty and cooked down I pour all the fat, jelly bits and meat scrapings into a remakin or similar. Out in fridge overnight so top solidifies - scrape that off and put in an airtight pot in fridge for week or so and use as chicken dripping. Yum. I then either use the leftover jellyfied part as a stock pot when in next cooking and need chicken stock or freeze until I do.

If making a chicken risotto and I don’t have proper chicken stock then the dripping part is amazing in lieu of oil for frying onions etc and the stock pot part I dissolve in hot water and ladle in. Tastes amazing

QuietComet · 13/07/2026 15:12

Pour into a mug and then, when solid, scrape into a bin.

Bunny65 · 13/07/2026 15:58

If it’s not a large amount just pour it straight into the bin.

Teawithfrenchtoast · 13/07/2026 16:25

we have a glass jar under the sink and pour whatever liquid fat we have into that then bin it when it’s full.

NemoNerd · 13/07/2026 16:30

Animal Fat that goes solid when cold: pour in a small bowl, scrape out onto cardboard and dispose in bin

Fat that stays liquid: YES we do keep a small spare plastic bottle, decant into this, then take to tip when full

YourWinter · 13/07/2026 19:37

Line a cereal bowl or mug with a square of foil, if there’s a lot of oil add a sheet of kitchen towel, pour oil / liquid fat in, when cooled scrunch into a secure parcel and freeze until black bin day, when it’s the last thing added to the kitchen bin before I tie up the bin bag to put out in the black bin.

ThanksForAllTheFish · 13/07/2026 23:48

If it’s liquid that will turn sold (eg cooking sausages under the grill/ draining fat off minced beef) I use a spoon and put it into an old tin to cool down and then once cool scoop it into the bin and wash the tin to recycle . If it’s vegetable oil I have used in the frying pan I tend to soak it up with kitchen paper when cooled down or if my bin is already about 3/4 full and looks like it has enough stuff in there to absorb it I will just pour it into the bin (cold oil obviously not hot).

caringcarer · 14/07/2026 00:09

I rarely get any liquid oil to dispose of but if put it into an empty takeaway carton and put in the bin.

Jayne35 · 14/07/2026 08:25

I mix mine with some flour then put in food recycling bin. Those bins are a bit rank in this heat but my neighbour freezes her full food bags before putting them out to delay maggots.

AfogatoFirenze · 14/07/2026 08:30

Don't you all just leave it on the side with bits of chip in it till next time

and next time

and next time

and next time

ad infintium

or was that just my mum 😂

HolyHannah · 14/07/2026 20:06

AfogatoFirenze · 14/07/2026 08:30

Don't you all just leave it on the side with bits of chip in it till next time

and next time

and next time

and next time

ad infintium

or was that just my mum 😂

Edited

I do reuse my deep fat frying oil. But I strain it through a muslin first, so no chip bits!

I deep fry about twice a year so seems a waste to bin it each time...

MoonlightMemories · 14/07/2026 20:13

I make a sort of "nest" out of kitchen roll, put it in the sink away from the plug hole, pour the fat into the nest and then throws it into the general waste bin when it's cooled down.

lilkitten · 15/07/2026 10:16

I don't use a lot of oil, but my mum used to put used oil into a bottle and bin it. I tend to only get fat from pork etc, let it go cold and scrape it out, but if I were disposing of vegetable oil etc then I guess what my mum used to do is probably right. I've heard that oil bottles can't be recycled anyway, so may as well use an old oil bottle.

RoseOliviaAu · 15/07/2026 11:10

Let it cool in a bowl made of foil then chuck it

Rescuedog12 · 19/07/2026 21:01

wheresthesnowgone · 11/07/2026 11:36

Freeze it until recycling day, pop the frozen fat out of the plastic container into newspaper, wrap and put in food recycling or general rubbish if you don't have separate food bins.

How can you put newspaper in with food?

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