What is commercial Oil?

There are several types of industry that generate/use a lot of commercial waste oil that needs to be correctly disposed of and treated. There are different types of oil from motor oil, crude oil, cooking oil/grease. Here are some examples of the industries that use commercial oil: shipping, restaurants and hotels. 

How to dispose of your commercial waste oil?

If waste oil is disposed of into the sewers, then it can lead to blockages and eventually “fatbergs” which are very costly and difficult to remove. Commercial waste oil disposal requires a tanker to collect the oil from site and then transport it to the correct type of treatment facility where it is made safe. Most oils are highly flammable and therefore must be treated with a lot of caution. Normally the best course of action when trying to dispose of commercial waste oil is to call a company whose staff are fully trained to deal with it and let them handle it. Often you can store the waste oil on site in safe tanks and then have those tanks periodically emptied by a company like Andersons Waste Management.

A recent case study at Andersons Waste Management was a local fried chicken takeaway restaurant called Miss Millie’s https://missmillies.co.uk/  Any restaurant that fries as much chicken as them will have large quantities of cooking oil that needs to be taken offsite and disposed of. If they were to dispose of the oil into the drains on site then they would have eventually blocked their own drains and may well have been fined for not taking duty of care with their commercial oil/grease. Miss Millie’s called up Andersons to see if we could help with their commercial waste oil disposal at one of their facilities in Bristol. During opening hours they store their commercial waste oil in secure tanks to ensure none of it goes down the drain. Then once the tanks are full they need a tanker to come and empty them to disposed of the waste properly. We gave them a price per visit for one of our tankers which was based on the volume of waste oil collected. We now send a tanker there every week to empty the oil from the tanks and bill them based on how much oil was collected. The oil is then taken to a waste treatment facility that is designed to safely and compliantly dispose of the oil. They no longer have to worry about calling us up as it is part of our weekly schedule.

After a few weeks of working successfully with this Miss Millie’s they asked us to provide the same service for all of their restaurants in the Bristol and southwest areas. They have also asked Andersons Waste Management to support them with their internal and eternal drainage issues to ensure that blockages don’t develop and avoid any disruption towards their business.  Andersons is on call 24/7 so please don’t hesitate to give us a call and we can solve any liquid waste disposal problem.

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Ships often use sea water to act as ballast. If the ship is working well then the crew can release the clean sea water back into the sea when they want to raise the ship. However, if that sea water becomes contaminated with commercial waste oil then the water can no longer go back into the sea. In this scenario the ship’s crew will need to engage a commercial waste oil disposal company to dispose of the sea water contaminated with commercial waste oil. 

How to dispose of commercial waste oil?

When a company has any liquid waste that becomes contaminated with commercial waste oil it is crucial that this waste doesn’t enter the natural environment as it can be extremely polluting. If you have to dispose of commercial waste oil then you need to ensure it is taken away and the surrounding area is cleaned properly by professionally trained individuals. Waste oil needs to be disposed of in a waste treatment plant where all toxins can be removed properly therefore ensuring no pollution escapes into the watercourse. Commercial waste oil needs to be taken away in a tanker which can be provided by several companies.

Andersons Waste Management took an emergency call from Osprey Shipping https://osprey.group/ based in Bristol Dock Yard. They called to report that a hydraulic pipe had split within the ship’s hull. The hull was full of sea water to lower the ballast and now, due to the oil leak, this sea water couldn’t be pumped back out to the sea due to contamination and threat to marine life. We reacted quickly to the customers requirement and had an emergency tanker onsite within 2 hours and a team of operatives to support and clean. Upon arrival we were directed to the barge and provided with their relevant health and safety requirements. Our team then kitted up with life jackets and PPE to board the barge safely and pump 78 tonnes of water contaminated with oil. After collecting all the oil into our tankers, we took it to the oil recovery disposal point. After the waste was removed, we washed down the area with a high powered jetter to ensure the area was clean and free from any contaminants. 

Andersons Waste Management is based in Avonmouth which means we are ideally positioned to help with any liquid waste problems that arise at the Bristol Port, Bristol Marina or any other ports and marinas near Bristol. We also go to Newport and Cardiff when customers have problems. We operate 24/7 so we can always be on hand to help in emergencies and out of our work. We have our own waste treatment plant which can take certain types of liquid waste and it can also be opened when other water treatment plants are closed. Sadly we can’t take any commercial waste oils into our treatment plant but we do know where to take oils and we will do so as part of our duty of care. We provide Waste Transfer Notices to all our clients to provide security that all waste has been disposed of in a compliant manner.

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What is a Grease Trap/interceptor?

A Grease trap is a receptacle into which wastewater containing oil, grease or fat flows through before entering the sewer system. It is used to prevent these oils and fats from blocking up the sewers and creating fatbergs. They are often used in commercial kitchens which use a lot of cooking oils.

There are lots of hospitality companies and buildings that have no mains sewer drainage facilities. This means that all the liquid waste that they produce on site will have to be stored in tanks and then those tanks need to be periodically emptied. This liquid waste includes sewage, wastewater and commercial kitchen grease trap or interceptor waste. It is illegal to let this sort of waste enter the natural watercourse so the waste needs to be disposed of properly in a licenced waste treatment facility. Often hotels will be built in secluded areas where there is no drainage to a sewer so lots of these hotels will have large wastewater storage tanks around the facility. The liquid waste sometimes needs to be pumped to these tanks and when these pumps fail the hotel may face temporary closure. Often they will pump the waste water to one tank and the interceptor waste to another tank.

We recently had a problem like this at one of our regular customers called Tortworth Court Hotel https://www.devere.co.uk/tortworth-court/ We regularly empty 4000 gallons of sewage on schedule from Tortworth Court based in Gloucestershire. All their liquid waste is pumped from around the hotel grounds into some large storage tanks. The site relies on the pumps in order to get the waste into these tanks. One morning Andersons Waste Management received a call from Tortworth advising that the pumps had stopped working and that daily tankering would be required to keep their sewage levels down and the hotel operational. We covered this demand until the engineers had identified the fault and arranged the appropriate repairs. 

We also regularly empty their industrial grease tanks from their commercial kitchens. We remove around 2,000 gallons of kitchen grease on a monthly basis. Having the tanks emptied on a regular basis keeps the tanks clean and in good working order. This reduces the chances of blockages caused by the build-up of fat which, in turn, reduces the risk of the kitchens being closed down.

Sometimes unforeseen emergencies appear such as heavy rain or pumps failing or larger quantities of people on site. All of which mean there is often a requirement for more tankers at short notice to remove excess liquid waste. The Andersons team will always help out when possible, we are on call 24/7 so normally we can help out with any emergency liquid waste collections, please do call us on 01454 222888 and we will do our best to sort out any liquid waste collections you may need. We have our own waste treatment plant which can take certain types of liquid waste and it can also be opened when other water treatment plants are closed.

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The UK has a large infrastructure of sewers and drains which transport sewage and rainwater to the wastewater treatment works. When there is a lot of heavy rain the sewers and drains sometimes overflow which cause flooding. The water companies who own the sewers spend millions of pounds per year on sewer and drain repairs. This is to try and alleviate the damage caused by flooding. Our commercial sewer and drain infrastructure is very old now. If you combine the age of the sewers and the population growth plus more stormy weather due to climate change then the outcome is going to be more flooding situations which require large tankers to help.

We were recently contacted by the Filta Group https://www.filta.co.uk/ who supply, service and maintain stormwater pumping stations, individual pumps, floats and alarm systems to ask our availability to attend a local pub in Bristol. The pub had flooded due to the amount of rainfall in the area and a problem with the pumping station. Once the pumping station broke down the excess water could not be pumped away and it started to build up in the surrounding area. In order for them to repair the commercial sewer and drainage system they needed an enormous amount of water to be removed. At the time of the enquiry the customer had never used us before and had to set up an account. Once the account forms were back a few hours later, we swiftly dispatched a tanker at 4pm the same day to assist their engineers. When we arrived on site, we could see the extent of the damage. The pub is located next to a large green space alongside a lake which had filled to capacity and become a flood risk. Due to the location, the pub has its own flood defence system in place to prevent flooding but even that couldn’t stop the rainwater. The water had gone over the defence system and flooded into the pub and completely filled their cellar which became unsafe and unusable. Our driver arrived in a 4,000 gallon tanker to try and hold the levels back, that evening we took 2 x 4,000 gallons back to our own wastewater facility for treatment. The Andersons Waste Treatment facility is open for much longer hours than most wastewater treatment facilities which helps with flooding caused at night. After taking 8,000 gallons it came to light that we were going to be unable to clear all the water and the customer asked us to stop. We then rearranged another day to try again after the rainfall had stopped and the land had started to dry up. We removed another 4,000 gallons which gave the customer some breathing space to have pumps fitted by their engineers. 

These sorts of problems are only going to increase as our infrastructure becomes more and more out of date, the storms increase in quantity and rainwater volume thanks to climate change and the water companies continue to underinvest in their facilities. With this in mind there will be a growing demand for commercial sewer and drain repairs as well as tanker companies who will be needed to remove the excess liquid waste. Please call Andersons Waste Management on 01454 222888 and we will do our best to sort out any liquid waste collections.

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The event management industry creates a lot of waste; this waste comes is in multiple shapes and sizes. Some examples of this are Glastonbury which produces the following types of waste: sewage, shower waste, tents, bottles, cups, wood, food, chairs, wet wipes, plates and much more. Thanks to the excellent green initiatives at Glastonbury a lot of this waste is recycled and repurposed. For example some of the food goes to local charities and bottles are recycled. Here is a short video of what happens at Glastonbury in order to reduce the amount of waste created https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AXKbgBbD5Qo 

However, there is a lot of liquid waste that needs to be collected from the site and taken away for proper treatment and disposal. This waste is generated by many different sources but mainly toilets, showers, bars and kitchens. This water is not allowed into the local watercourse as it would be very polluting to the natural environment. 

What happens to liquid waste generated at events?

Throughout the event this liquid waste is stored in some very large steel containers underground and then tanker lorries come to the venue whenever possible to remove the liquid waste. It can be difficult to get large tanker lorries into live events due to the accessibility problems. However, often event organisers leave some roads clear for access for emergency services like ambulances and liquid waste disposal.

Once the event is collected in a liquid waste tanker it is transported to the nearest sewage treatment plant where it will pass through a series of processes to remove all the toxins, contaminants, and nasties. Once it has passed through all these systems, the water will be released into the water course as clean fresh water with no potential for pollution.

Andersons Waste Management provides liquid waste collection services to several events in the UK. We have sent several 6000-gallon articulated lorries to Glastonbury Festival https://www.glastonburyfestivals.co.uk/  both during and after the event as well as other size tankers to Love Saves the Day, Bristol Balloon Fiesta, Tokyo World Festival https://www.tokyoworld.org/ , Events at the Downs, and the Bristol Harbour Festival https://www.bristolharbourfestival.co.uk/  The event organisers usually book in their liquid waste removal requirements well in advance which allows us to prepare for the irregular hours of event work. For example, at some events there are no vehicle movements allowed during the day due to the size of the crowds so we have to come at night or very early in the morning when the festival goers are sleeping.

Sometimes unforeseen emergencies appear such as heavy rain which means there is often a requirement for more tankers at short notice to remove excess rainwater. The Andersons team will always help out when possible, we are on call 24/7 so normally we can help out with any emergency liquid waste collections, please do call us on 01454 222888 and we will do our best to sort out any liquid waste collections you may need. We have our own waste treatment plant which can take certain types of liquid waste and it can also be opened when other water treatment plants are closed.

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Leachate waste is a liquid that is produced when water percolates through waste in landfill sites and reacts with the decomposing materials. The risk to public health and the environment from the micro-organisms and toxic substances (including ammonia and nitrogen) that can be found in leachate are high. Andersons Waste Management Ltd can remove landfill leachate waste and transport it to a licensed disposal point where it can be properly treated.
We operate our own fleet of vacuum tankers ranging from 2,000-gallon rigid tankers to 6,000-gallon articulated lorries that can cope with all types of leachate waste.

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