Fort Huachuca will hold the second annual Day After Thanksgiving Grease Recycling event on Nov. 23, located in the Main Exchange parking lot.
From 10 a.m. – 1 p.m., deliver cooking drippings, leftover cooking oil or grease used to fry turkeys, in a plastic container with a secure lid, and drop it off to be recycled. Last year, the total amount gathered was approximately 12 gallons and this year, the goal is to increase the amount turned in.
Each person who drops off a container can enter to win a $50 Main Post Exchange gift certificate. The recycling location has changed this year to allow for better customer convenience. Information will be available as well for those who do not have grease to turn in, but who may have questions.
Different types of grease that are recyclable are animal fats from meat or poultry, cooking oil and cooking grease. Use any clean, dry container with a secure lid to avoid spillage.
Hector Hagele, water/wastewater pretreatment coordinator, City of Sierra Vista, explains, “We teamed up with Grecycle, and what they do with that oil is make biodiesel fuel. By recycling this grease, it keeps our sewers clean and it cleans the air. Not only are we being prudent with our environment, but we are also making it cleaner and keeping a commodity out of the landfill.”
Fat, oil and grease can build up in the pipes and cause drainage backups in the homes, in the roads or in the drain systems.
“Basically what fat, oil and grease will do to our pipes is it will coat, just like cholesterol coats your arteries. If you keep doing it, eventually you will get a full stoppage. With us, full stoppages will either burst our pipes or we will have a sanitation overflow,” Hagele explains.
Buildup of fat, oil or grease is the number-one cause of public and private sewage spills.
After Thanksgiving, one can deliver recyclable fats, oils, or greases at the City of Sierra Vista Compost Facility, Mon – Sat., 8 a.m. – 2:30 p.m., or the Good Neighbor Alliance, Mon – Fri., 1 – 4 p.m.
For more information, contact Hagele, Sierra Vista Department of Public Works, 458.5775.
