Inside the Portland International Airport FOG Program

Portland International Airport (PDX) is a fully operational airport located in Portland, Oregon. PDX is open 24/7 and offers a variety of services to make travel as painless as possible, including a variety of local food and drink options. In 2022, PDX saw 1,986,281 travelers make their way through Oregon’s busiest airport.

Concessions management at PDX operates like a small city’s pretreatment program. PDX Airport has 33 restaurants (with 16 more coming in 2024) and hundreds of staff working to serve meals for roughly 26,000 to 36,000 of travelers each day. Managing the FOG and food waste requires compliance oversight, strategic recycling, and a procedure to store materials for recycling. That’s where Ryan Doherty, Concessions Property Manager, and Jeff Heller, Concessions Operations Manager, have created a program of waste disposal, energy recovery, and recycling for all Food Service Establishments (FSE) at PDX.

FOG is one of the leading causes of clogged pipes and can cause sewer backups or Sanitary Sewer Overflows (SSOs). SSOs can result in health hazards, hefty cleanup costs, and extensive damages to businesses and infrastructure. Moreover, a large-scale SSO at a busy airport like PDX would cause delays, disruptions, and disgruntlement.

To keep concessions running smoothly, each FSE is required to submit a plan to manage and mitigate FOG and food waste from their business. FSEs must install grease traps under all sink units; Some FSEs may have up to four traps. From the grease traps, FSEs discharge to a secondary larger Grease Removal Device (GRD). Secondary GRDs are inspected and pumped twice a year. Currently, the GRDs consist of seven Gravity Grease Interceptors (GGI) ranging in size from 4,000 to 5,000 gallons. PDX Concessions Management staff train each FSE management who is then required to train their staff. FSEs are inspected twice a month through a third party company and inspection results are also submitted to the city.

FSEs are required to use the PDX Cooking Oil Removal System, which requires the proper tools and equipment when handling large amounts of fryer oil. This minimizes spills and hazards when transporting liquids to external storage areas. FSEs with fryers are equipped with a fryer oil recovery system which transports fryer oil directly from the FSE to the large storage tanks. Tanks are pumped out on an as needed basis. Recycled fryer oil returns to PDX as biodiesel which fuels aircraft.

Composting and food donation programs help FSEs divert foods and travelers are engaged through the Green Plate Program. Customers and travelers are asked to turn in all materials: plate, flatware, and food into a vat. The materials are separated into containers. The containers are regularly picked up where the materials are recycled into compost.

The Grease Bucket Program collects food waste, grill scrapings, and grease trap FOG in buckets at each FSE. Buckets are picked up twice per week by a third-party vendor. The food materials are then stored in outdoor containers and picked up on an as needed basis for reuse as compost material.

PDX is employing a third-party vendor to help maintain consistent waste removal and eliminate drips, leaks and spills of FOG on stairs, walkways, elevators and outdoor areas. Keeping the runways free of debris and any waste materials is vital to operations at PDX where delays have high price tags. 

The success of the PDX FOG Program works by working with FSE management to properly handle and dispose of all materials. By promoting proper waste disposal and FOG management the PDX FOG Management Program helps prevent sewer backups, utilizes valuable resources, and maintains a healthy, functioning airport environment. 

Special thanks to the USDA for funding our FOG abatement programming!