Cooking oil in Montgomery County, MD — unofficial (≤5 gal tank · bacon fat → trash · empty bottles recycle)

Hours, fees, and gates change. Confirm on the official page the morning you go. This page is unofficial and not the county. Not a hauler. Holiday names and holiday clock hours: not stated. Separate vegetable-oil-tank clock: not stated. Liquid veg oil is not the same path as bacon fat — and not the motor-oil pavilion.

Which kind is it?

1. 1

   Liquid cooking or vegetable oil, resident, ≤5 gallons, not mixed with other fluids?

   Vegetable-oil tank · Recycling Area

   Shady Grove Processing Facility and Transfer Station. Go to the Recycling Area; look for the vegetable oil container/tank; pour it in. Cap: up to 5 gallons (per-visit vs per-month: not stated). Do not mix with any other fluids so it can be recycled. Facility clock: Mon–Sat 7 a.m.–5 p.m.; Sun 9 a.m.–5 p.m. commercial entrance only. Separate tank clock: not stated.

2. 2

   Bacon fat, hamburger grease, or other fats that cool solid?

   Cool in a can · household trash

   How Do I: pour fats and grease into a can; allow to cool and solidify; put the lidded can in regular household trash. WSSC Water (linked from the county page): Can it · Cool it · Toss it — fridge or freezer until hard; keep covered so melted grease does not spill. Do not pour down the drain or sink.

3. 3

   Empty glass or plastic cooking / vegetable oil bottles, containers, or jars?

   Blue bin · or Transfer Station recycling

   How Do I accepts empty glass and plastic cooking and vegetable oil bottles, containers, and jars in curbside recycling and at Shady Grove. Opposite of empty plastic motor oil bottles (those go in trash — motor-oil How Do I).

4. 4

   Thinking of setting liquid cooking oil out with curbside trash?

   Wrong path · leaks

   How Do I: do not set liquid cooking or vegetable oil out with curbside trash. Prevents leaks and spills before and during collection. Use the vegetable-oil tank (choice 1) instead.

5. 5

   More than 5 gallons of liquid cooking oil?

   Over-cap path: not stated

   How Do I cap is up to 5 gallons. What happens over 5 gallons, and whether 5 is per visit or per month: not stated. Do not invent an exemption form (that form is on the motor-oil How Do I, not this one). Call 311 (or 240-777-0311) rather than guess.

6. 6

   Business / restaurant / commercial fryer oil?

   County How Do I: not stated

   Cooking-oil How Do I uses resident language only. Commercial Transfer Station drop-off for cooking oil: not stated. Do not invent one. WSSC Water FOG Permit Program covers food service establishments for sewer/grease compliance (store used fryer oil in barrels for recycling is a WSSC tip) — that is not a Shady Grove resident-tank listing. Private biodiesel collectors: not listed on the county How Do I; do not invent brands here.

7. 7

   Motor oil, hydraulic fluid, kerosene, or gasoline?

   Wrong page · motor oil / HHW

   Not the vegetable-oil tank. Motor oil / hydraulic / kerosene: Recycling Area pavilion tanks (motor-oil How Do I, ≤5 gal). Old gasoline: HHW. Empty plastic motor oil bottles: trash (not blue bin). Cooking oil empty bottles: recycle. Do not mix cooking oil into motor-oil containers.

8. 8

   Thinking HHW or Poolesville Beauty Spot for fryer oil?

   Wrong path

   Cooking oil is a Recycling Area vegetable-oil tank drop-off, not the HHW compound. Poolesville Beauty Spot (19200 Jerusalem Road, Saturdays 8 a.m.–4 p.m.) is bulk trash up to 499 lb for residents — not a cooking-oil tank.

Where to go

Empty cooking / vegetable oil bottles recycle (blue bin or Transfer Station). Empty plastic motor oil bottles are trash — opposite rule. Cite each How Do I; do not mix them. Last-checked 3 Sep 2026.

Poolesville Beauty Spot (19200 Jerusalem Road, Saturdays 8 a.m.–4 p.m.) is bulk trash up to 499 lb for residents. It is not a cooking-oil tank. Last-checked 3 Sep 2026.

Unreconciled Sunday: cooking-oil How Do I puts drop-off in the Recycling Area; facility/hours pages say Sunday use the Commercial and Truck entrance only (16055 Shady Grove Road, 9 a.m.–5 p.m.). This page does not pick a winner. Confirm the morning you go. Last-checked 3 Sep 2026.

Bring this

• Proof of residency (residential drop-off): Maryland license or photo ID with a Montgomery County address; a current utility bill with a physical MoCo address and your name; or a mortgage statement / lease in your name for a physical MoCo address. Out-of-county plates still need one of those. Proof of County Residency.
• Liquid cooking / vegetable oil only in the tank — unmixed. Cap: up to 5 gallons. Bring it in a sealed container you can pour from; what to do with the empty pour jug after emptying at the tank: not stated beyond the empty-bottle recycling rule for cooking-oil bottles.
• Bacon fat / grease: an empty can you can lid; cool until solid before trash. Optional: WSSC “Can the Grease” lid for WSSC customers.
• Covered load if you self-haul (hours page). PPE (high-vis vest, hard hat, closed-toe shoes) is required on the main tipping floor, not described as required for Recycling Area pour-offs.

Not here

• Liquid cooking / vegetable oil in curbside trash (How Do I forbid — leak risk).
• Cooking oil mixed with motor oil, antifreeze, gasoline, or other fluids (won’t recycle).
• Bacon fat / hamburger grease poured down the sink or storm drain (county + WSSC).
• HHW compound as the cooking-oil destination (wrong pad).
• Poolesville Beauty Spot as a cooking-oil destination.
• Motor-oil pavilion tanks for fryer / veg oil (different containers; motor-oil How Do I).
• Empty plastic motor oil bottles in the blue bin (those are trash — different How Do I).
• Business fryer-oil Transfer Station path on this How Do I: not stated — do not invent.
• Over-5-gallon exemption form on this page (that form is motor oil’s, not cooking oil’s).
• Scraped Earth911 / private biodiesel store lists — link tools if you use them; do not clone databases here. County How Do I does not name retail locators for cooking oil.

Official sources

• How Do I — cooking oil (liquid veg oil tank; no curbside liquid; empty bottles recycle; bacon fat → trash)
• How Do I — motor oil (contrast: pavilion tanks; empty plastic motor-oil bottles → trash)
• WSSC Water — Fats, Oils & Grease (Can it · Cool it · Toss it; do not pour down the drain)
• WSSC Water — Can the Grease (lid request; FAQ points to MoCo DEP for recycling used cooking oil)
• Shady Grove Processing Facility and Transfer Station
• Trash and Recycling Drop-Off Hours and Events
• User Fees
• Proof of County Residency
• Poolesville Beauty Spot (bulk trash only — not cooking oil)
• Earth911 locator (link out only; do not scrape). County How Do I does not require Earth911 for this material.