If your kitchen serves hot food, a grease trap is a legal requirement, and keeping it clean is what stops fats, oils and grease causing blocked drains, bad smells and a failed hygiene inspection.
We provide grease trap cleaning and emptying for commercial kitchens across Wales and the border counties, including Cheshire, Shropshire & Herefordshire.
A grease trap (also called a grease interceptor or grease separator) is a grease management system fitted to a commercial kitchen’s drainage to catch fats, oils and grease (FOG) before they reach the sewer. As wastewater passes through, it cools and settles. Solids sink, grease and oil rise to the surface, and cleaner water flows on into the drainage system.
Without one, FOG solidifies in the pipework, causing blockages, bad smells and, eventually, sewer flooding. Which is exactly why grease traps are a legal requirement for any commercial kitchen serving hot food, not just good practice.
A grease trap only works if it’s emptied before it fills up. Once it’s full, FOG starts passing straight through into the drainage system rather than being trapped — which defeats the point of having one at all.
Under the Water Industry Act 1991, discharging FOG into the public sewer is a criminal offence, and water companies are increasingly enforcing this against food businesses. On top of the legal risk, a poorly maintained grease trap causes bad smells, pest problems and blocked kitchen drains, all of which can affect your food hygiene rating and, in a worst case, force an emergency closure.
This depends on the size of your trap and how much hot food your kitchen produces. A busy restaurant kitchen will need far more frequent cleaning than a small café. As a general guide, most commercial kitchens need cleaning somewhere between monthly and quarterly, though some high-volume sites need it more often. We can assess your kitchen and set a schedule that actually matches your usage, rather than guessing and either over- or under-servicing it.
Rather than waiting for a problem, or a visit from your local authority or water company, most kitchens are better served by a scheduled grease trap cleaning plan matched to how busy the kitchen actually is. We can set this up so it’s one less compliance date for you to track yourself.
If your business serves hot food, yes. Commercial kitchens are required to have effective grease management in place, and a grease trap is the standard way of meeting that.
FOG starts passing through into the sewer rather than being trapped, which can lead to blocked drains, bad smells, pest problems, and, since discharging FOG to the sewer is an offence under the Water Industry Act 1991, potential enforcement action or fines from your water company.
It depends on your kitchen’s size and how much hot food you produce, we can assess your specific setup and recommend a realistic schedule.
Yes, we offer scheduled cleaning plans so you’re not left tracking when the next one’s due.
It’s removed by a licensed waste carrier and disposed of at an authorised facility, with documentation provided as evidence.
We predominantly cover Wales and the border counties, including Cheshire, Shropshire & Herefordshire. We will travel further afield where required.
Get in touch for a grease trap cleaning quote.
