The FOG problem is huge. Fats, oils and grease (FOGs) are making it down drains across the world and water companies from Baltimore to Brisbane are finding fatbergs forming in their sewers.
But it seems like no country has been plagued with as many bergs as Britain. With our Victorian sewers struggling to cope with our love of fried fast foods, we are Fatberg central, with the problem costing our utility companies £100 million a year.
The terrifying scale of the issue calls for co-operation.
Enter: the Grease Contractors Association (GCA).
What Is The GCA?
A not-for-profit alliance of specifiers, installers and maintainers of grease management systems, the Grease Contractors Association is an initiative administered by British Water which has been running for nearly four years.
The GCA’s membership is split into two groups: the GCA Certified Contractors and the GCA Supporters.
Certified contractor memberships are available to companies and organisations which specify, supply, install and maintain a range of grease management systems. Once certified by British Water’s Auditors, these contractors are evaluated twice a year to ensure that their practices are still up to scratch.
Supporter memberships of the GCA are available to all other companies, organisations and stakeholders in the grease management industry. They are contractors, suppliers, researchers and developers, educators, manufacturers, consultants and business-users of grease management products.
In amongst this second group is us: UK Grease Traps Direct is proud to be one of the Supporter Members of the Grease Contractors Association.
Why?
That’s simple.
The GCA is Forging Unity in the Face of FOGs
Bringing specifiers, installers and maintainers together, the GCA provides a platform for its members to collaborate in order to set standards for the grease management industry to follow.
Pooling their expertise, the 14 and growing members of the GCA, aim to tackle the fatberg problem by:
educating consumers on their role in FOG reduction
setting out best practice for food businesses
assisting in the research and development of new products and services
And, ultimately, by influencing and advising on legislation and regulation.
Along the way, as it becomes a forum for grease management experts, the GCA seeks to bring clarity and understanding, credibility and transparency to the grease management industry as a whole.
As the GCA is proving:
Together We Can Solve the FOG Problem Once and For All
The GCA is already making progress educating food businesses to ensure that they know all about the threats posed by fats, oils and grease to our sewers.
And their auditing system is beginning to make it easier for those food business owners to tell who they can trust as they try to tackle the problem: with certified GCA approval showing them which grease traps to invest in, who they should hire to install them, and who they can rely on to have those traps cleaned out regularly and maintained in good working order.
The GCA is bringing uniformity to a previously disorganised industry and promises to become a force to be reckoned with in the fight against fatbergs.
But there is still a long way to go before the GCA can make these sewer-blocking giants a thing of the past.
First things first, the association has got to grow. So: if you are a grease management contractor and you haven’t already, join the conversation today.
There’s only one way to end the scourge of bergs in our sewers – we’ve got to work together.
Since joining the FFD Group in 2013 as a novice to the industry, I have produced a large repository of informative content surrounding commercial refrigeration, catering equipment and grease management solutions. From the onset, I threw myself into understanding the technical ins and outs of the industry...
