Guide
Grease trap cleaning cost: what a visit actually costs in 2026
Updated
A grease trap visit is priced on three things: how big the trap is, how easy it is to get at, and what it costs the firm to dispose of what comes out. Here is the honest price picture for 2026.
Typical prices at a glance
| Job | Typical price per visit |
|---|---|
| Small under-sink or internal trap | £100–£175 |
| Larger internal unit or small external trap | £150–£250 |
| External below-ground trap, tanker visit | £200–£300+ |
| Blocked or overflowing trap, emergency callout | Above standard rates, quoted per job |
These are typical quote ranges, not fixed prices. What moves a job within and beyond them: waste volume (a neglected trap holds far more than a maintained one), access (a tanker that can park by the trap is cheaper than long hose runs), and timing (out-of-hours and emergency work costs more everywhere).
What a proper visit includes
- Full empty, not a skim: the fat cap, the liquid and the settled solids all out, and the trap's baffles and walls cleaned down.
- Waste taken away legally: grease trap waste is a controlled waste; the firm should be a registered waste carrier and leave you a waste transfer note. Keep it, it's your evidence the waste went where it should.
- A working check: baffles seated, inlets and outlets flowing, lid sealed, and a note of the trap's condition.
- A record: date, volume removed and next-due date. Water company inspectors and environmental health officers ask for exactly this trail, see the regulations guide.
Paying less without cutting corners
- Put it on a schedule. Contract rounds are priced below one-off callouts, and a trap serviced on time never becomes the overflowing emergency that costs the most. See how often yours needs doing.
- Cut what goes in. Dry-wiping pans and proper strainer baskets slow the fill rate, which stretches the interval you're paying for.
- Get two or three prices. Disposal costs and round density differ between firms, so quotes genuinely vary. Our form gets local firms quoting your actual trap, free.