• 55% of sewer blockages are caused by people disposing of cooking fat down their sink.

• It is an offence under the Sewerage (Scotland) Act 1968 to dispose of fat, grease or oil down your sink.

• When you pour fat, grease or oil down your sink, the hot liquid cools and solidifies which can build up over time causing blockages in pipes and sewers.

• Blockages can cause waste water to flood into gardens and properties creating a mess and inconvenience for you, as well as being a health hazard which harms wildlife and your local environment.  

We encourage you to put any used fats and oils into a sealable container and dispose of it with your household rubbish.

a tasty treat

A good idea is to give our Scottish birds a treat!      

Instead of throwing away your solid fat, let your garden birds enjoy a bird cake. If you are a Scottish Water Customer and in the first 200 to e-mail or write to us* telling how you dispose of your fats we will send you a FREE Fat Trap, as seen on BBC2’s ‘No Waste Like Home’ & ‘The F-Word’. 

Don’t worry if you are not one of the first 200 you can still make these cakes by using an empty yoghurt or plastic pot, just follow the instructions below.

• Mix seeds, nuts, oatmeal and dried fruit into the warm fat held in your fat trap/plastic pot.

• Insert a piece of string into the fat trap/plastic pot and allow the fat to cool/solidify.

• Turn out the contents of the fat trap/plastic pot and either hang up or place onto a bird table when solid.

• You can then wipe out the fat trap/plastic pot and either re-use or recycle.

Ideally you should use animal fats to make your bird cake to ensure the fat solidifies. Other oils e.g. vegetable, sunflower and olive oil will not solidify and should be put into a sealable container and disposed of with household rubbish - bag it and bin it! 

For further information click on the right to view/download a copy of our guide to disposing cooking fats leaflet.

*Scottish Water customers can write to us at Customer Marketing, Scottish Water, PO Box 8855, Edinburgh, EH10 6YQ or e-mail us at customermarketing@scottishwater.co.uk

Find out what else you can do to avoid blockages in your drains in our Bag it & Bin It campaign.