McDonald's has re-trained staff after it was among three major fast food chains fines after their workers illegally dumping waste oil down stormwater drains.
KFC, Hungry Jack's and McDonald's franchises in Melbourne's north were penalised between $3800 and more than $7500 following a spate of pollution reports, Victoria's Environment Protection Authority said on Monday.
A worker at KFC in Moonee Ponds was caught red-handed after being photographed emptying a container of cooking oil and cleaning chemicals down stormwater drains.
The franchise was fined $5769 for the discharging waste cleaning chemicals and an additional $1920 for littering offences.
Hungry Jack's in Preston was fine $3846 after the EPA found workers did not properly manage waste liquids and released cooking oil down storm water drains instead of putting it in collection tanks for proper disposal.
The regulator also fined the McDonald's Kingsbury franchise $3846 in March after staff were found disposing waste oil down stormwater drains.
A McDonald's spokeswoman said all impacted employees have been "thoroughly retrained on the correct processes and procedures".
"This was an isolated incident, and every McDonald's restaurant is required to use the systems in place to dispose of waste oil correctly," she said.
"We take our responsibility as a local business extremely seriously and understand how important it is to do the right thing for our people, communities and the environment."
KFC and Hungry Jacks have also been contacted for comment.
Everyone has a duty to protect the environment, says the EPA which has written to the fast food outlets to remind them to enforce rules.
"Oil and cooking wastes do not belong in our drain networks," EPA manager Steve Lansdell said.
"Major fast food franchises should have controls in place and their staff should be trained to understand how to manage their waste."
The agency also raised concerns around wrappers and drink containers not being properly disposed of.
"(The chains) have a responsibility to manage the environmental issues created by the sale of their product and that includes its packaging."
