What Happens to Recycled Motor Oil?

Many people and businesses send motor oil out for recycling to get it off their premises. There are hazardous waste issues they likely don’t want to deal with, and it’s easier to offload the oil to someone who knows what they’re doing. Motor oil recycling also creates new products without expending extra fossil fuel resources. Here are five uses for recycled oil in New Orleans, LA:

• Industrial burner oil: Before oil is used for industrial purposes, it must be dewatered, filtered and demineralized. These recycling steps remove solids and inorganic material so it burns cleaner once it arrives at an industrial or manufacturing site. Otherwise, the oil will let off fumes and other hazards as it burns. This allows these sites to use the recycled oil to power their equipment rather than utilize additional fossil fuels.
• Mold oil: This is the cooking spray of manufacturing. When material is placed in a mold, it can be difficult to remove once it hardens and dries. Both concrete and pressed metal stick stubbornly to their molds unless technicians have access to a lubricant. That is where mold oil comes into the picture. Often made from recycled oils, the mold oil coats the mold before material is poured into it. If this was not made from recycled materials, it would be a single-use application that would squander fossil fuels. However, your used motor oil makes this substance available without additional demand.
• Hydraulic oil: While it has to be clean, hydraulic oil does not need to be as pure as industrial burner oil. Used to keep hydraulic machinery fueled and lubricated, hydraulic oil is easily derived from used motor oil with just a few chemical steps. Most machinery does not require frequent changes of hydraulic oil, but using recycled products to create it is just another good way to preserve resources.
• Bitumen-based products: Bitumen is an oil-based substance that is most commonly found in asphalt. Many people are unaware that the streets and driveways they use often contain the old motor oil from their vehicles. Since we already use up fossil fuels with our vehicles, it only seems appropriate that the oil can be recycled into roadways that make using these vehicles possible.
• Other refinements: Used motor oil gets distributed to specialty recyclers for other specific uses. It can be refined into an additive for plastic products that once demanded the use of additional fossil fuels. Plastic bags are one example of products that benefit from recycled oil. Besides hydraulic oil, used motor oil is also re-refined into general lubricants and transformer oil. Current processes can never clean up the oil enough to be placed back into cars, but they can at least keep another toxic substance out of landfills.

If you would like to contribute your motor oil for these and other uses for recycled oil, Safeway Used Oil and Grease can help. We offer used oil collection and recycling throughout New Orleans, LA and the surrounding areas. Call us today to arrange for a pickup or inquire about our other services.

Categorised in: Motor Oil Recycling