Enjoy the Feast, Recycle the Grease

Click this image for more information:

When fats, oils, and grease enter our sewer systems, they solidify in the sewer pipes, mixing with non-flushable items (like wet wipes and shop rags) to create “fatbergs” (like the one pictured below) that block the sewer lines and cause costly and unsafe overflows into backyards, forests, and streams that can harm the environment and public health. These fatberg clogs can be extremely difficult for utility workers to remove. One reason clogs due to fats, oils, and grease are so frustrating for utility workers is because they are entirely avoidable. 

There are a variety of ingredients that can contribute to Lynchburg’s fatbergs including: butter/lard, meat fats, grease, cooking oil, dairy products, waxes/petroleum lubricants, gravy/sauces, food scraps, icing, and salad dressing. Thankfully, fatbergs are entirely avoidable! To prevent our pipes from becoming clogged and causing costly environmental problems, simply place these ingredients in the trash instead of pouring down the drain.

Can lid and can to recycle grease

Interested in taking it one step further to make something good for the environment? Collect your leftover cooking oil, meat fats, grease, and butter/lard in a container with a lid (leftover sauce jars and cans work well), then bring it back to us to be recycled! The collected grease will then be recycled into an environmentally-friendly biofuel by our local partner, Darton Environmental

How to Recycle

COOL

  • After cooking, cool the oil or grease until you can pour it into a sealable plastic or glass container. Other ingredients like gravy, waxes, icing, and salad dressing can’t be recycled into a biofuel, so continue to place those items in the trash and recycle the oil and grease!

CAN

  • Once the oil or grease is cool, pour it into a sealable container.

RECYCLE

  • When your container is full, recycle it at our grease recycling center located at the Lynchburg Regional Water Resource Recovery Facility, Lynchburg Parks & Rec Neighborhood Centers, and Templeton Center. You can pick up a new can lid when you drop off your grease!
Grease Recycling Drop Off Locations

Lynchburg Regional Water Resource Recovery Facility
2301 Concord Turnpike
Lynchburg, VA 
Open Year Round 24/7

Bedford Regional Water Authority Administration Building
1723 Falling Creek Road
Bedford, VA
8am to 5pm

Lynchburg Water Resources Administration Building
525 Taylor Street
Lynchburg, VA
8am to 5pm

*Templeton Center
225 Wiggington Road
Lynchburg, VA

*College Hill
Community Center

811 Jackson Street
Lynchburg, VA
*Fairview Community Center
3621 Campbell Avenue
Lynchburg, VA
*Daniel's Hill
Community Center

317 Norwood Street
Lynchburg, VA 
*Jefferson Park
Community Center

405 York Street
Lynchburg, VA
*Diamond Hill
Community Center

1005 17th Street
Lynchburg, VA 
*Yoder Community Center
109 Jackson Street 
Lynchburg, VA 
Bedford Regional Water Authority SML Water Treatment Facility
1500 Radford Church Road
Moneta, VA
Nov. 26 to Dec. 31 8:30am to 5pm

Bedford Christian Ministries
217 W Washington Street
Bedford, VA

*Lynchburg Community Market
1219 Main Street
Lynchburg, VA 
*During open hours year round,
hours may vary

Click the image of the poster below you want to download and post next to your sink!