In the latter practice, used oil is filtered to remove water and contaminants. According to studies , that option is less desirable as it burns the actual oil while creating greenhouse gas emissions that can accumulate in the environment. The more responsible oil recycling practice is to re-refine base stock and turn it into new lubricating oil.
This occurs when used oil is distilled to remove remaining additives and metals picked up from the engine, and then treated in the same way conventional crude oil is refined. According to SARRC, re-refining oil to its original lubricating properties is not only per cent sustainable since it can be repeated an infinite number of times , it also consumes a third of the energy it takes to refine crude oil.
In addition to being re-refined into new lubricating oil, used motor oil serves as feedstock for machines and other industrial processes. Oil derivatives can also help create life-saving medical devices and preservatives that keep food from spoiling.
More than 6, products rely on oil derivatives and refined petroleum. Speakers, guitar strings, nail polish, crayons, perfume, candles and pillows are just some of them. Meanwhile, old oil filters which are separated in a heating process , are also transformed into a variety of new products including cars, construction rebar and scrap metal.
Collect oil in a clean plastic or metal container with a tightly sealed lid; use only containers that are made of a suitable plastic, such as PE polyethylene or other material. For example, milk jugs are not a proper container for used oil, but you might consider reusing the original motor oil container.
Do not mix the oil with other automotive fluids or household chemicals such as differential oil, antifreeze, solvent, paint, etc. Environmental Protection Agency EPA estimates million gallons , liters —is dumped illegally each year. But there is another option: motor oil as a renewable resource. Then it can be resold over and over again at about the same price per quart as conventional motor oil.
In North America, only about 10 to 15 percent of motor oil is re-refined. But that story is slowly changing as U. The U. The EPA also suggests that American do-it-yourself oil changers alone could recycle enough oil for 50 million cars a year if every drop of their old oil was collected at service stations and quick lubes, landfills, recycling centers, or auto parts stores. The American Petroleum Institute API maintains a website to help consumers locate motor oil collection and recycling centers.
A U. Department of Energy DOE study estimated that about 80 percent of all oil collected for recycling was burned as an industrial fuel for mills, boilers, kilns, power plants, space heaters, and the asphalt industry. This process gives used motor oil a second life but also produces significant emissions of heavy metals like lead and zinc, according to studies published in the peer-reviewed journal of the American Chemical Society. We want to do the right thing ecologically and there is an economic benefit to doing this as well.
That economic benefit allows companies like Universal Lubricants to produce re-refined oils that meet American Petroleum Institute and American Automobile Manufacturers Association quality certifications for performance in areas like cold-start ability, rust-corrosion control, engine wear, and high temperature viscosity tests. Internal combustion engines are made of metal parts in constant motion. This prevents wear on engine parts and reduces friction to minimize heat damage.
Oil also helps to keep engine surfaces clean, makes start-up easier, and limits rust and corrosion. Oil captures the contaminant by-products of combustion including carbon, soot, and heavy metals from engine wear.
When these build up in oil over time, they reduce its effectiveness. Oil also contains performance-enhancing chemical additives, which make up as much as 15 percent of its total volume. These additives become depleted with wear so the processes they prevent, like corrosion or the sludge-forming mixing of oil and water, become problematic when oil has been used too long.
It takes about a gallon 3. Extensive laboratory testing and field studies conclude that re-refined oil is equivalent to virgin oil—it passes all prescribed tests and, in some situations, even outperforms virgin oil. The same consumers and businesses that use regular oil also can use re-refined oil, since re-refining simply re-processes used oil into new, high-quality lubricating oil.
Any vehicle maintenance facilities, automobile owners, and other machinery maintenance operations that use oil also can use re-refined oil.
In some cases, fleet maintenance facilities that use large volumes of oil arrange to reuse the same oil that they send to be re-refined—a true closed recycling loop. Skip to main content. Related Topics: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Contact Us. Basic Information on Handling Used Oil at Home If you are one of the many people who change their own motor oil, you too need to know how to properly manage the used oil.
When handling used oil, be sure to take these key points into consideration: Used motor oil is insoluble, persistent, and can contain toxic chemicals and heavy metals.
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