Maupiti Islands - The Society archipelago ( Tahiti )

• These days, it is relatively common for people to recycle paper, glass and metals (aluminum and steel). The infrastructure and services for this recycling activity are available and relatively well understood. However the recycling of petroleum products is less well known and sometimes confusing. Regulators and recycling agencies have effectively communicated with businesses the need for and benefits of recycling used oil but more can be done to communicate with individuals who work on their cars or trucks in the garage at home. These individuals generate significant quantities of used petroleum products that need to be recycled.

• Many individuals who are unfamiliar with the importance of recycling used oil are unconsciously harming the environment by throwing it away with their normal garbage or emptying their used oil into storm drains. Such actions, especially emptying used oil into storm drains, can cause real harm to the environment. To put it into perspective, just one gallon of used oil can contaminate 1 million gallons of water.

• Recycling your used motor oil keeps it out of our rivers, lakes, streams and even the ground water. In many cases, that means keeping it out of our drinking water, off our beaches, and away from wildlife. We all share the responsibility of protecting our environment and keeping our waters safe. Recycling used oil allows us to continue to enjoy what many of us take for granted every day – clean water.

• Where?: Many service stations, repair facilities and quick lubes will accept used oil and used oil filters. Additionally, your local government or recycling coordinator may be able to identify curbside or other recycling programs in your area.

• Why?: There are many practical uses for used motor oil.

1. A primary use is to rerefine it into a base stock for lubricating oil. This process is very similar to the refining of crude oil. The result is that the rerefined oil is of as high a quality as a virgin oil product. In fact, rerefining used oil takes from 50 to 85 percent less energy than refining crude oil.
2. A secondary use of the used oil is to burn it for energy. Large industrial boilers can efficiently burn the used oil with minimum pollution. As a result some used oil is sent to power plants or cement kilns to be burned as fuel. On a smaller scale small quantities of used oil are burned in specially designed heaters to provide space heating for small businesses.

• As you can see, recycled used oil probably touches your life every day without you even knowing it. As consumers, we all benefit from recycling used motor oil . From augmenting our oil supplies and helping to generate heat, to protecting the environment, recycling oil just makes good sense.