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Image Credit: Eco Clarity
Big Table Group, the parent company behind popular restaurant chains like Bella Italia, Las Iguanas, Frankie & Benny's, and Café Rouge, has embarked on an innovative trial to transform commercial kitchen grease into sustainable biofuel. In partnership with GreaseTech Drainage Solutions and Eco Clarity, this trial could revolutionise waste management in the restaurant industry.
Operating across more than 230 locations in the UK, Big Table is piloting grease recovery units in 25 of its restaurant kitchens. These units, developed by GreaseTech and supported by Eco Clarity's engineering expertise, aim to convert fat, oil, and grease (FOG) – a notorious byproduct of commercial kitchens – into biofuels.
The environmental and financial burden of FOG has long been a challenge for food service establishments. Water companies frequently report issues with FOG entering sewers and drains, where it solidifies into blockages, often called 'fatbergs.' These fatbergs cause significant damage, contributing to an estimated 200,000 sewer blockages annually, with FOG accounting for 75%.
However, this waste also holds potential as a feedstock for carbon-reducing biofuels. Enter the M62 Corridor Project – a collaborative effort that harnesses Eco Clarity's northern FOG Recovery Hubs in Hull, Stockport, and Stanlow. These hubs and GreaseTech's expertise in grease recovery unit maintenance at Big Table's locations will collect and process the waste, turning it into valuable biofuel feedstock.
Hosted at Yorkshire Water, United Utilities, and Argent Energy facilities, the Eco Clarity hubs process tankered liquid waste containing FOG, extracting a clean water stream suitable for discharge or further treatment, while generating biofuel feedstock. This trial addresses the environmental strain caused by FOG and offers a circular solution where waste is repurposed into energy.
Karl Tindall, Big Table Group's facilities manager, expressed optimism about the project's potential to expand across all 230 locations under their various restaurant brands, hinting at a broader rollout should the trial prove successful.
"We've always been very conscious of putting grease recovery units in and managing our FOG correctly," said Tindall. "Now we've got an opportunity to know exactly where it's going when it leaves our sites, too.
"We're the first hospitality company to do it, but we want to encourage other restaurant businesses to get involved too and help open doors so we can get more awareness about the multiple environmental benefits of this initiative. It's a no-brainer for the hospitality sector."
Rob Thomas, GreaseTech's commercial director, said the company was excited to be part of a "pioneering project."
"We've been working very closely with Big Table Group to manage their grease management requirements and recognised the opportunity to present Eco Clarity to BTG as a solution for their FOG disposal," he said.
"Across our customer base, we already specify, supply, service, and maintain grease recovery units at some 3,400 sites nationally, but Eco Clarity has made it possible to start recovering and reusing this waste.
"The sampling shows that 60 percent of the waste is reusable, which represents a step-change in sustainable waste management for food service establishments."
Chris Clemes, chief executive at Eco Clarity, added that the hospitality sector has a major role in helping to capture the benefits of FOG.
"We could not be more excited about having Big Table Group and GreaseTech onboard for the next phase of this initiative, which is the M62 Corridor Project," he said.
"Not only does sustainable management of FOG provide a valuable biofuel resource, it ensures that restaurant kitchens run more efficiently, avoiding risk of pipe blockages, non-compliance and reputational harm."
Eco Clarity ultimately hopes to roll out between 30 and 40 FOG Recovery Hubs across the UK and bring more hospitality venues on board.
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