How are you actually supposed to dispose of cooking oil?

[ScreamingBeans]

You can't put it in the food waste bag because it's liquid.

I have half a jar of oil in which there were once artichokes. Should I pour it down the drain or what? Is there any other way of doing it, someone this morning was going on about terrible people causing fatbergs and I felt guilty. But I don't know how else to dispose of it. Any ideas?

Add oats to make bird food

There was something on here a couple of days ago saying that this was bad for the birds. I pour it on the soil in the garden (I've also got a used artichoke jar fitting in the kitchen! Must deal with it today).

I pour any oil into a plastic milk container which we keep especially for this sort of thing, then bin it when it gets full. It lives in the utility.

Pour it into a plastic bottle and put it in with the general waste.

Official advice
"Cooking oil and fat shouldn't be poured down sinks as it can cause blockages. If you do not have access to a food waste recycling service, put it in a sealed container and place in the general waste bin."
Don't worry too much about having to divert the jar from your recycling. It's much worse to put it down the drain.

I let it cool and pour into tin foil and then into my bin

Pour into a container then leave to recycling depot.

Put it in a jar and into general waste.

Our food waste collection says to put it in a small plastic bottle and put the bottle in the food waste collection. We also can use non compostable bags in ours though so they clearly have a mechanism for removing plastic from it, not sure if they all do as my MIL was surprised we don’t have to use compatible bags.

I don't buy oiled jars much any more but I used to use the oil in sun dried tomatoes in cooking.

Why waste it? Use it.

It's delicious - use it in cooking and salad dressings etc.

https://www.bonappetit.com/story/artichoke-marinade-uses

That's about brine but I'm sure the oil can be used in dressings or stews etc as well

No idea why I hadn't thought to use it for cooking, thanks all.

We soak used oil into kitchen roll or scraps then put into the food bin

I would use the artichoke oil in a salad dressing, but for used cooking oil I pour it into a jar, soak it up with a couple of sheets of kitchen roll, and put that in my food waste bin.

A lot of “compostable” bags don’t compost properly so the composting places refuse to accept them. They are tested in laboratory conditions but then in the real world people tie knots in the top which don’t break down in a normal composting cycle.

Used cooking oil can just be reused. If it has bits in it, put a sheet of kitchen roll in a sieve, and strain it into a jug and reuse it.

Nobody should be throwing it away. What a waste.

Well, I wouldn't be throwing away more than I could soak up with a couple of sheets of kitchen roll. I'd reuse if I'd been deep frying or something (which I mostly wouldn't be). Thinking about it, what I mostly end up throwing away is more like dripping (which you'll probably tell me I should save to spread on toast!).

It was big enough to go in a jar though?

@AlisonDonut yes but not fill it up to the top - if you've got a spare jam jar, it's quite handy for draining a roasting tin into if not making gravy (and then stuffing a sheet of kitchen roll into to soak up the fat). See also: skimming the fat off the top of stock.

Oil like that I would use to marinate olives or feta, or in salad dressings.

*Used cooking oil can just be reused. If it has bits in it, put a sheet of kitchen roll in a sieve, and strain it into a jug and reuse it.

Nobody should be throwing it away. What a waste.*

I remember years ago there was a big public information campaign to make people throw away cooked fat as they said cooking it over and over again (like for chips) increased the number of something or other that was linked with cancer, heart disease etc. etc.

Was that misinformation?

You pour liquid into tin foil? How does that work?

Make the foil into a well shape - use a cup or bowl to put the foil in
Scrunch the top of the foil when you’ve poured it in