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🦃 Turkey Fryer Oil and Grease Disposal After Thanksgiving

Where to take used cooking oil and turkey fryer grease in North Carolina and California counties, with holiday pickups, drop-off sites and rules.

⚡ Quick Answer

Never pour turkey fryer oil or grease down the drain. Let it cool, pour it into a sealed plastic container, and take it to a drop-off that names cooking oil. Raleigh offered free curbside grease pickup from November 10, 2025 to January 9, 2026. Wake County's three multi-material recycling facilities and Henderson County's convenience center take cooking oil all year, and 61 drop-off sites in our directory list cooking oil on their own pages. Small amounts can be cooled, sealed and put in the trash where your county allows it.

Published October 28, 2026. Each program comes from the city, county or operator page that runs it, read October 28, 2026. Not yet confirmed with the operators.

Santa Clara County, CA: Kitchen grease and cooking oil via Santa Clara County Household Hazardous Waste program

  • 🏛️Run by Santa Clara County Household Hazardous Waste Program
  • 🗓️Year-round by appointment
  • 💲Free appointment
  • 📍HHW drop-off by appointment (www.HHW.org or 408-299-7300), assigned at booking; not listed (by appointment)
  • 🧹Let oil cool, pour into a lidded container you do not need back
  • 🧹Accepts kitchen grease, fat, lard and edible oils (vegetable, olive, canola); oils and fats can be mixed
  • 🧹Containers 5 gallons or smaller; no more than 15 gallons
  • 🧹Up to 1 quart can go in the garbage (county classification page)
  • ⚠️Year-round service.
  • 📄Source: Santa Clara County Household Hazardous Waste Program page, read October 28, 2026.

Sonoma County, CA: Oil, cooking/grease drop-off locations

  • 🏛️Run by Zero Waste Sonoma (listing); sites run by listed businesses and county HHW Facility
  • 🗓️Year-round
  • 💲Cost not stated
  • 📍Household Hazardous Waste Facility, 500 Mecham Rd, Petaluma, CA 94952 (Thu, Fri, Sat 7:30A to 2:30P)
  • 📍Betty's English Fish 'n' Chips, 4046 Sonoma Hwy, Santa Rosa, CA 95409 (Daily 11A to 9P; call first)
  • 📍Big John's Market (barrel in NW corner of rear lot), 1345 Healdsburg Ave., Healdsburg, CA 95448 (Daily 7A to 7P)
  • 📍Willowbrook Ale House, 3600 Petaluma Blvd. N., Petaluma, CA 94952 (as printed 'Daily 10am- 12pm'; call first)
  • 🧹Clean, strained cooking oil only; no solids or water
  • 🧹Business sites take up to 10 gallons
  • 🧹Under 2 cups: cool and put in garbage in rigid screw-top container
  • 🧹Over 2 cups: take to a drop-off site
  • ⚠️Year-round service.
  • 📄Source: Zero Waste Sonoma page, read October 28, 2026.

Henderson County, NC: Convenience Center recycling (cooking oil accepted)

  • 🏛️Run by Henderson County Solid Waste
  • 🗓️Year-round
  • 💲Cost not stated
  • 📍Henderson County Convenience Center, 265 Convenience Center Drive, Hendersonville, NC 28791 (Mon to Sat, 7:00 am to 4:00 pm, excluding holidays and inclement weather)
  • 🧹Cooking oil (must be emptied out of the container)
  • ⚠️Year-round service.
  • 📄Source: Henderson County Solid Waste page, read October 28, 2026.

Wake County, NC: Multi-Material Recycling Facilities (cooking oil listed as acceptable item)

  • 🏛️Run by Wake County Solid Waste Management
  • 🗓️Year-round. Closed New Year's Day, Easter Sunday, Memorial Day, Independence Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Eve at noon, Christmas Day.
  • 💲Cost not stated
  • 📍North Wake Multi-Material Recycling Facility, 9029 Deponie Drive, Raleigh, NC 27614 (Mon to Sat, 8 am to 4 pm)
  • 📍South Wake Multi-Material Recycling Facility, 6130 Old Smithfield Road, Apex, NC 27539 (Mon to Sat, 8 am to 4 pm)
  • 📍East Wake Multi-Material Recycling Facility, 5051 Wendell Boulevard, Wendell, NC 27591 (Sat and Sun only, 8 am to 4 pm; Wake County residents only)
  • 🧹'Cooking oil' listed under Acceptable Items
  • 🧹No container or quantity rules stated for cooking oil; call 919-856-7400
  • ⚠️Year-round service.
  • 📄Source: Wake County Solid Waste Management page, read October 28, 2026.

Wake County, NC: Household Seasonal Grease Collection (Free Curbside Grease Collection Through the Holidays)

  • 🏛️Run by City of Raleigh
  • 🗓️November 10, 2025 through January 9, 2026
  • 💲Free
  • 📍Curbside pickup by appointment, call 919-996-3245 (Next collection day after scheduling)
  • 🧹Minimum 1 gallon to schedule a pickup, maximum 3 containers
  • 🧹Only animal grease and vegetable cooking oil
  • 🧹No motor oil or petroleum products
  • 🧹Oil must be cooled and placed in a plastic bottle, jug or coffee tin labeled 'cooking oil' by 7:30 a.m. on pickup day
  • 🧹Glass containers will not be collected
  • ⚠️Last season (2025-26). This year's dates are not announced yet.
  • 📄Source: City of Raleigh page, read October 28, 2026.

San Diego County, CA: How to Dispose of Grease & Oil this Holiday Season (EDCO Buyback Center drop-off)

  • 🏛️Run by EDCO (City of Solana Beach's hauler); notice by City of Solana Beach
  • 🗓️No event dates; free drop-off at any of EDCO's six Buyback Centers
  • 💲Free
  • 📍Fallbrook Recycling & Transfer, 550 W. Aviation Rd., Fallbrook, CA
  • 📍EDCO Certified Recycling Center, 1373 Grand Ave, San Marcos, CA
  • 📍Ramona Transfer Station, 324 Maple Street, Ramona, CA
  • 🧹Collect cooled FOG in a leakproof container
  • 🧹Do not mix with motor oil or gear oil
  • 🧹Liquid or hardened cooking oil and grease may also go loose in the green organics cart (Solana Beach)
  • 🧹Never pour down the drain
  • ⚠️Older program. Newer dates were not found.
  • 📄Source: EDCO page, read October 28, 2026.

Ventura County, CA: Household cooking oil drop-off at Coastal Byproducts (Eco-tip column)

  • 🏛️Run by Coastal Byproducts (column by Ventura County Public Works staff)
  • 🗓️Year-round
  • 💲Free
  • 📍Coastal Byproducts, 1891 Sunkist Circle, Oxnard (Mon to Fri, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.; no appointment)
  • 🧹Households may harden small amounts in a can (kitty litter helps) for trash; recycling preferred
  • ⚠️The page shows no year. Confirm before you go.
  • 📄Source: Coastal Byproducts page, read October 28, 2026.

📋 Sites in Our Directory That List Cooking Oil

These sites name cooking oil in the accepted items on their own pages. Rules and limits vary, so open the site page first.

🦃North Carolina: the state's list of items banned from landfills names used oil, but it does not say whether that includes cooking oil, so we do not claim it does. NC DEQ says used cooking oil is recyclable and should stay out of sewer lines.

❓ Common Questions

How do I get rid of turkey fryer oil?

Let it cool completely, pour it into a clean plastic jug or container with a tight lid, and take it to a site that accepts cooking oil. Do not mix it with motor oil, and never pour it down a drain.

Is there a holiday grease pickup?

Raleigh ran free curbside pickup from November 10, 2025 to January 9, 2026 for at least 1 gallon in a labeled plastic container. This season's dates are not announced yet.

Can I put cooking oil in the trash?

Some counties allow small amounts. Sonoma County says under 2 cups can be cooled and put in the trash in a rigid screw-top container, and Santa Clara County says up to 1 quart can go in the garbage. Larger amounts go to a drop-off.

Does North Carolina ban cooking oil from landfills?

The NC DEQ banned-items list names used oil, but it does not say whether cooking oil is included. NC DEQ does say used cooking oil is recyclable.

Is this verified?

Each program comes from the running organization's own page, read October 28, 2026. We have not confirmed them by phone.