Environmental charity programme, Clean Coasts, has joined Uisce Éireann in urging the public to refrain from pouring fats, oils and greases down the sink this Easter.
The ‘Think Before You Pour’ initiative calls on the Irish public to use empty egg cartons to collect cooled fats, oils and greases before disposing of them into the general waste bin.
Uisce Éireann said that pouring fats, oils and greases down the sink can cause blocked sewers across the country, resulting in its team being called out approximately 200 times a week.
The water services company said that fats, oils and greases may seem like liquid when poured down the sink, but they cool and harden as they travel along the pipes and can cause blockages in homes, businesses, the public sewer network and wastewater treatment plans.
Uisce Éireann said it responded to approximately 10,000 customer notified blockages in 2022.
Clean Coasts and Uisce Éireann said that people’s attitudes towards pouring fats, oils and greases down the sink is changing, according to results from their Think Before you Flush/Pour behaviour and attitudes survey of 2022.
The results revealed that 30% of people are regularly pouring fats, oils and greases down the sink compared to 44% in 2018. Clean Coasts said this is a positive improvement, but that there “is still more to be done”.
Operations lead at Uisce Éireann, Donal Heaney, said: “This Easter, in partnership with Clean Coasts, we are asking everyone to support the Think Before You Pour campaign and lead by eggs-ample.
“Help reduce the number of wastewater blockages caused by fats, oils and grease and prevent sewage backing up into our homes, gardens or spilling into the local environment.
“We want to remind the public not to use their kitchen sink as a bin and to ‘Think before You Pour’. Let’s work together and keep our pipes free-flowing and environment clean.”
Coastal communities manager at Clean Coasts, Sinead McCoy, said the charity is calling for the public to take “positive environmental actions” to be green.
“One simple action that can be done in the home is to collect FOGs (fats, oils and greases) in an egg carton for the bin,” she said.