22 July 2010
Green Grease collects and recycles it at no charge
ATLANTA—Metro Atlanta residents who deep-fry their foods have another alternative to pouring the used oil down their kitchen sinks or in the garbage. Green Grease LLC, an Atlanta-based cooking oil recycling company is now collecting used cooking oil from area households at no charge to the homeowner.
Green Grease collects the oil from homeowners who place their filled Green Grease containers at the home’s curbside each month. The company collects the spent cooking oil and recycles it into biodiesel, a renewable resource that is used as a clean, alternative fuel source.
“Green Grease is at the forefront of addressing residential cooking oil recycling and promoting social responsibility in the general public's disposal and recycling habits. We can work together to clean our environment,” said Warren Crawley, owner/president of Green Grease. “We want metro Atlantans to join the green movement in their kitchens. If they are deep-frying their turkey, fish, chicken, etc., we want them to call us to pick up the used oil instead pouring it down their sink drains or placing it in their garbage, which becomes unnecessary waste in our landfills.”
Fulton and DeKalb county governments currently have campaigns underway to discourage residents from pouring used cooking oil down drains because of the potential damage it causes to sewer pipes. Local government officials have reported that aside from their aging sewer pipes that lead to raw sewage spills in area creeks, rivers and streams that their number one problem is when residents pour an average of 25-30 gallons of grease down drains, further damaging the aging pipes. The counties’ campaigns offer locations for residents to drop off their cooking grease. Green Grease, a partner with the Environmental Protection Agency’s Waste Wise program, provides free pick up of the used oil from homes and apartment communities.
It is estimated that more than 500,000 gallons of used cooking oil is poured down pipes in household drains and landfills every month in Georgia.
In May 2010, Green Grease became the official recycling company of record for the city of Washington, GA. Green Grease collects used cooking oil from approximately 2700 households in the town located two hours east of Atlanta and other recyclable items from residents.
Green Grease currently collects oil from nearly 1,000 single-family homes and 6,000 apartment units in the metro area. That is more than 5,000 gallons of oil a month diverted from sink drains and landfills. The oil is treated and reused as biodiesel fuel that is a cleaner, “green” energy source. Based upon current responses, Crawley expects more than 150,000 homes will be online with Green Grease by year’s end.
To meet the expected demand, Crawley adds that Green Grease plans to fill nearly 600 positions at the company this year. The positions include salesperson, drivers and plant managers.
Stone Mountain, GA homeowner Paula Hand recycles with Green Grease. “I now have somewhere to store my used cooking oil and some place to dispose of it. I’m glad to participate because I felt bad pouring the grease into the sink, but I didn’t know what else to do with it,” Hand said.
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PAGE 2 News Release Green Grease 5.21.10
Grease clogged pipes and blocked sewer drains are a common problem in many apartment communities when tenants pour used cooking oil down sink drains or toilets. The problem results in large plumbing repair costs for apartment management.
At Columbia Mill apartments in Decatur, GA, a 55-gallon central oil disposal system sits on the property adjacent to its trash receptacles. Residents conveniently dispose oil from their residential containers into the central disposal system. Green Grease collects the oil at least once a month.
Green Grease aims to help residents in apartments and single-family dwellings to become more environmentally conscious of their cooking habits by providing cooking oil containers to households across metropolitan Atlanta and asking residents to place the full containers at the curbside for the free pick-up service. Customers pay a one-time $10 registration fee for the program at www.greengrease.info and receive one free 1.25 gallon, spill-proof container with childproof caps to store the used oil. Each month, Green Grease will pick-up the filled container at the homeowner’s curbside.
Crawley adds that Green Grease supports the “F.O.G (fats, oil and grease) reduction strategy” to keep these wastes from pipes, sewers and landfills. He notes although county water and sewer departments across the country regulate the compliance of restaurants, commercial businesses, hospitals, and the like in their disposal of F.O.G., governments have not figured out how to regulate F.O.G. contributions made from the general public living in multi- and single-family dwellings, which exacerbate the F.O.G. problem.
Green Grease LLC., headquartered in Atlanta, GA, is a full-service recycling company dedicated to keeping the environment clean through the collection and reuse of cooking oil and other recyclable products into alternative energy sources. The company’s leadership commits to effect change in the public’s disposal and recycling habits one individual at a time.
Visit www.greengrease.info or call 404-736-3692.
Green Grease LLC owner/president Warren Crawley collects used cooking oil from metro Atlanta area households at no charge to the homeowner. www.greengrease.info.
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