Guide
Used cooking oil pickup vs hood vendor — different jobs
Used cooking oil (UCO / yellow grease) pickup is not hood cleaning, and it is not grease-trap pumping. One hauls spent fryer oil from a dedicated container for recycle. One cleans airborne grease deposits in the canopy, duct, and fan under fire-code / NFPA 96 rules. One pumps waterborne FOG from an interceptor under municipal pretreatment / FOG programs. Operators get burned when a “full grease service” pitch collapses those three into one invoice line. For trap vs hood same-day coordination, see combining grease trap service with hood day. For hood wash-water path questions, see chemical runoff and grease waste handling.
Short answer
Treat yellow grease recycle, interceptor FOG pump-out, and exhaust cleaning as three contracts — even if one company holds credentials for more than one. EPA’s food-service FOG fact sheet separates yellow grease (point-of-use collection for consolidation / reuse) from grease-trap waste that must stay out of the sewer. A hood cleaner’s NFPA report does not document fryer-oil pickup. A UCO manifest does not prove the exhaust path was cleaned. A trap pump ticket does not cover either. Ask for the license that matches each stream, keep each paper trail, and never pour cooled fryer oil into a sink or interceptor to “save a pickup.”
Three grease paths — keep them separate
| Path | What it handles | Typical vendor | Who usually regulates | Typical proof |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kitchen exhaust (hood / duct / fan) | Airborne grease vapor and deposits on the cookline path | Exhaust / hood cleaning contractor | Fire marshal / AHJ (NFPA 96 / fire code) | Inspection/cleaning report, hood service label, path photos |
| Grease trap or interceptor (brown grease / FOG) | Waterborne FOG from sinks, dishwash, floor drains — mixed with wastewater and solids | Licensed FOG hauler / pumper | Wastewater utility / municipal FOG program; often health on logs | Pump-out / trip-ticket manifest; retention per local FOG rules |
| Used cooking oil (yellow grease) | Spent fryer / cooking oil collected at point of use before it hits a drain — recycle commodity | Oil recycler / consolidation / rendering collector | State / local used-oil or rendering rules (varies); not the same credential as trap hauling in many states | Collection / recycle manifest or ticket; locked container program |
EPA’s National Pretreatment Program fact sheet: FOG captured on-site is generally classified into yellow grease (used cooking oil and waste greases separated at point of use) and grease trap waste. FSEs often accumulate yellow grease for pickup by consolidation companies for re-sale or re-use (tallow, feed supplements, fuels) and use interceptors to keep FOG out of the POTW. That is sewer / pretreatment language — not a fire-code exhaust clean.
Yellow grease vs brown grease (operator language)
- Yellow grease — Spent fryer oil that has not been mixed with wastewater or solids; staff pour cooled oil into a dedicated recycle container. Secondary municipal FOG FAQs use the same split: recycle bin vs interceptor stream.
- Brown grease — FOG + solids + kitchen wastewater retained in a grease trap or interceptor. Vacuum-truck pump-out; disposal or recycling under liquid-waste / FOG rules, not the UCO container program.
- Hood grease waste / wash water — Grease scraped or rinsed from the exhaust path during a clean. Separate from both UCO and interceptor FOG; see the runoff guide for storm vs sanitary / haul questions.
Field note — state examples (verify your AHJ / agency)
- Texas (TCEQ RG-389, secondary) — TCEQ transporter rules for grease-trap waste do not apply to yellow grease rendered from fryers; yellow grease is stored in a special container for recycler pickup and is regulated under DSHS rendering rules, not the same 30 TAC 312 trap-hauler registration.
- Florida / Miami-Dade pattern (secondary vendor + code cites) — Grease interceptor pump-out and used cooking oil transport sit under different frameworks (local FOG / liquid-waste permit vs state used-oil transporter certification). Holding one credential does not automatically authorize the other.
- Your city may use different names and lists. The operator move is the same: ask which license covers this stream before the first pickup.
What each contract usually covers (and does not)
| Contract | Usually covers | Does not cover |
|---|---|---|
| Hood / exhaust clean | Inspection and/or cleaning of hood, filters, plenum, ducts, fan to AHJ / NFPA expectations; report + label | Fryer oil recycle; interceptor pump-out; permission to dump wash water to storm drains |
| FOG / trap pump | Evacuation of interceptor compartments (scope must say full pump vs skim); disposal manifest | Exhaust path cleaning; yellow grease container service (unless separately credentialed and scoped) |
| UCO / yellow grease pickup | Scheduled or on-call removal from the recycle container; often a locked tank; recycle ticket | Trap pump-out; NFPA exhaust cleaning; fixing a clogged sewer lateral |
Why “we handle all your grease” can mislead
- One brand, three licenses — Bundling is fine when the company actually holds (or subcontracts with documented) credentials for each stream. Logo overlap is not proof.
- Same night ≠ same job — A UCO driver swapping a tote is not inspecting grease depth in the duct. A trap truck is not your fire-code report.
- Mixing streams is a compliance risk — Secondary hauler guidance: UCO and grease-trap waste must stay separate; equipment and receiving facilities differ.
- Pouring fryer oil into the trap — Reloads brown grease, can trip 25%-style capacity rules sooner, and is commonly prohibited by FOG ordinances. It is not a substitute for recycle pickup.
- Commodity pricing ≠ fire safety — Yellow grease sometimes has recycle value (free pickup or a rebate). That market has nothing to do with whether your exhaust is due under Table 12.4.
Healthy bundling pattern
- Written scopes list each stream on its own line with the matching license / permit number
- Separate manifests or tickets filed in the binder (hood report · FOG manifest · UCO ticket)
- Staff SOP: cooled fryer oil → locked UCO container only; never sink / never interceptor
- Hood wash-water plan still written — trap truck on site does not excuse storm-drain dumping
Red-flag pitch language
- “Grease service” with no breakdown of exhaust vs trap vs oil
- “Our hood guy takes the oil” with no recycler credential shown
- “Trap clean covers the fryer oil” — different waste, different rules
- One ticket for everything and no way to show the fire marshal the path was cleaned
What to ask before you sign
| Ask | Hood cleaner | FOG / trap hauler | UCO / oil recycler |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scope | Full path (hood, filters, plenum, duct, fan) with report + photos? | Full pump-out of all compartments + scrape, or skim only? | Which container, pickup cadence, indoor caddy vs outdoor locked tank? |
| Credential | Acceptable to local AHJ / fire marshal? | Licensed FOG / liquid-waste transporter for this city? | State / local used-oil or rendering registration that covers yellow grease? |
| Paper trail | Written report + hood label; who gets the copy? | Manifest left on site; retention period? | Collection ticket each pickup; who keeps it? |
| Cross-work claim | Do you also haul UCO or pump traps? Show those licenses separately | Do you also clean exhaust or collect yellow grease? Show those credentials | Do you also pump interceptors or clean hoods? Show those credentials — not a tote logo |
| Disposal / recycle path | Where does wash water / scraped grease go? | Receiving facility on the manifest? | Renderer / biodiesel / consolidation outlet — and is the container locked against theft? |
Operator checklist
- Map your three next-due dates: exhaust inspection/clean · FOG pump · UCO pickup
- Walk the dock: locked UCO container present? Lid intact? Not next to an open storm drain
- Train line staff: cooled oil → UCO container; never drain, never mop sink, never “into the trap”
- File three packets in the same binder tab family — do not let the UCO ticket stand in for the hood report
- If one vendor bids all three, demand three scopes and three credential copies before you merge calendars
Who it’s for / not for
- For: kitchen managers separating vendor scopes; multi-unit ops writing SOPs for oil vs FOG vs exhaust; anyone comparing a “bundled grease” bid to specialist quotes
- Not for: treating UCO pickup as NFPA exhaust compliance; assuming a trap pump covers fryer oil; inventing rebate rates or fine amounts — ask your utility and hauler
Sources
- EPA — Controlling FOG discharges from food service establishments (National Pretreatment Program fact sheet; yellow grease vs grease trap waste; consolidation pickup)
- GreasePros — Grease trap cleaning vs used cooking oil pickup (secondary; separate waste streams, credentials, manifests — FL/Miami-Dade example)
- TCEQ RG-389 — Waste from grease traps (Q&A) (Texas; yellow grease from fryers excluded from TCEQ trap-transporter rules; DSHS rendering path)
- Grease Trap Locator — How used cooking oil collection works (secondary; UCO vs trap waste must stay separate; container / commodity notes)
- City of Dothan — FOG FAQ for FSEs (secondary municipal; yellow grease vs brown grease definitions)
- Superior Clean — Grease trap pairs with hood cleaning (secondary; trap vs exhaust coordination — not UCO)
Next step
Open last month’s invoices. If one vendor line says “grease” without naming exhaust vs trap vs oil, ask for three scopes and the credential that matches each. Put the UCO container check on the same weekly walk as drip cups — and keep the hood report in a different sleeve from the recycle ticket.