Inadequate Food Waste Disposal in Daegu School Cafeterias Raises Environmental Pollution Concerns... "Hygiene Blind Spots Must Be Improved"

Daegu City Councilor Dongwook Lee: "Reckless Disposal of Waste Oil"

No Guidelines, Workers Forced to Labor Criticized

Concerns have been raised that the disposal of food waste in school cafeterias in Daegu city is unsanitary and lacks proper management guidelines, making urgent hygiene improvements necessary.

Lee Dong-wook, a Daegu city council member (Chairman of the Education Committee), stated, “School meals for children are not just about one meal but an aspect of education, so school cafeterias must be the safest and most hygienic,” revealing the current situation candidly.

There are concerns about environmental pollution due to negligence in the installation and usage guidelines of the ‘grease trap,’ a food waste disposal facility in school cafeterias.

According to Councilman Lee, the low distribution of waste oil decomposition devices, which naturally break down oil produced after cooking and dishwashing in school cafeterias, not only causes environmental pollution but also forces additional labor on kitchen staff.

The ‘wastewater treatment aeration device’ that decomposes waste oil is attached to grease traps, which are essential installations in large-scale cafeterias. It changes the physical properties of wastewater containing oil components to prevent clogging of sewage pipes and environmental pollution.

Councilman Lee argued, “If grease traps fail to remove oil in a timely manner or are poorly managed while separating food waste and oil, the oil can rot, causing odors and bacteria to flow back through the drainage pipes into the cafeteria, affecting kitchen hygiene.”

Even where grease traps are installed, kitchen staff manually remove food waste and waste oil after dishwashing, increasing workload and exposing cafeteria workers to musculoskeletal disorders.

'Grease trap' installed in the school cafeteria.

Most cooking staff perform the task of removing oil while still wearing their cooking uniforms, raising concerns about kitchen hygiene.

In some school cafeterias, it is known that parts of the grease trap are arbitrarily removed or hot water is poured without removing the oil, sending it directly down the sewage pipes, raising environmental issues.

Although grease traps are required by installation regulations to be placed outside the cafeteria, some cafeterias have them installed inside, causing overflow beyond capacity and raising hygiene and safety accident risks.

Councilman Lee also pointed out that the current ‘School Meal Facility Management Guidelines’ lack regulations on waste fat management, which is problematic.

To address these issues, some schools have independently purchased grease trap cleaners or installed waste oil decomposition devices, but they face difficulties securing budgets.

Currently, grease traps are installed in all 447 elementary, middle, and high school meal facilities in Daegu, with a higher installation rate compared to other cities and provinces.

However, only three schools in Daegu are piloting waste oil decomposition devices, and only four schools have been allocated budgets for meal facility improvements in the second half of this year.

The budget for meal facility improvements is used to replace meal equipment suitable for each school site. Due to recent government policies focusing budgets on improving kitchen ventilation systems, the budget for replacing cooking equipment and facilities is severely insufficient.

Experts say that with the government cutting next year’s local education finance grants to an all-time low, significant difficulties are expected in kitchen environment improvement projects, necessitating practical alternatives.

Thorough management of grease traps and the specification of lax school waste fat disposal regulations are also urgent tasks.

Regarding this, Councilman Lee emphasized, “We will strengthen management and supervision through hygiene inspections and revise detailed guidelines on operation.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.