Recyclable Materials

USED OIL

INTRODUCTION

Used oil is derived primarily from “do-it-yourselfers” (consumers who change their own oil), truck depots, service stations and industrial users. The oil is no longer suitable for its original purpose because through its uses, it has become contaminated with impurities. Examples of used oil include lubricating oils, hydraulic fluids, metal working fluids, and insulating fluid or coolant. Used oil may be considered a hazardous or liquid waste depending on the amount of impurities that it has accumulated during use.1

Common contaminants found in used oil are lead, zinc, trichloroethane, trichloroethylene, benzene, toluene, xylene and PCBs2, all of which cause serious environmental and human health problems. It is estimated that one litre of used oil can contaminate a million litres of ground water. Further, the burning of used oil releases sulphur oxides, carbon monoxide, VOCs, fine particulates, lead, zinc and nickel into the atmosphere, leading to negative effects on wildlife and human populations.3

Every year in Ontario, about 250 million litres of used oil is generated. Out of this amount, 30 per cent (58 to 75 million litres) is unaccounted for, 27 per cent (52 to 68 million litres) is re-refined, and the rest is used as fuel in cement kilns, exported for incineration or burned in space heaters.4  

TECHNOLOGY

Reprocessing and re-refining are the two main types of end-use technologies. “It is the responsibility of the generator to find out where and how the oil is being recycled, and determine the best recovery strategy for the particular situation”.5

In reprocessing, simple physical and/or chemical treatments are applied to remove the basic contaminants in used oil. The objective is to clean the oil so that it can be utilized for less demanding uses, not to produce a product comparable to virgin oil. Reprocessed oils are used most commonly in industrial applications.

Re-refining technologies on the other hand are designed to fully restore the original usefulness of the oil. The technological capabilities of the re-refining industry have advanced to the point where most used oils can be successfully recycled and are comparable to virgin oil. Re-refining typically involves the physical and/or chemical treatments used for reprocessing followed by other more complex processing such as acid/clay treatment, vacuum distillation/clay polishing, vacuum distillation/hydrotreating and chemical demetallization/distillation/hydrotreating.  

a)     Acid/Clay Process: The acid/clay process is the oldest and most common re-refining technology. It involves the reaction of used oil and sulphuric acid to dissolve or settle metal salts and particles, aromatics, organic acids, polar compounds and dirt. These contaminants form a sludge, which is drawn out for disposal. Clay addition followed by filtration is used to remove any remaining colour.

b)     Vacuum Distillation/Clay Process: To recover the oil basestock from used oil, vacuum distillation is implemented. Varying grades of oil may be produced through this process giving the re-refiner an added flexibility in blending to meet different product specifications.

c)     Vacuum Distillation/Hydrotreating Process:  This process is basically the same as the distillation/clay process except that oil stocks are treated with hydrogen rather than with clay, eliminating the need for disposal of clay sludge.

d)     Demetallization/Vacuum Distillation/Hydrotreating Process: This re-refining technology is a modification of the Philips Re-refining Oil Process (PROP) developed by Phillips Petroleum. The modification involves a more sophisticated vacuum distillation process.

In the PROP process used oil is demetallized by chemical precipitation and then hydrotreated to produce about 90 per cent yields of base oil. With the addition of an improved distillation system, which can separate light and heavy oils, the PROP process can produce a great variety of re-refined oils. All re-refining facilities produce a re-refined oil base stock and a distilled light end fuel oil fraction, some of which is used on site for heating. The by-products, which have marginal value, include distillation bottoms (used as an asphalt extender or in fuel oil blending) and demetallized filter cake (used as road base material). The remainder of the materials are residues such as acid and centrifuge sludge, spent clay, and process water that are directed to treatment and/or disposal.6

Used Oil Filters

In addition to used motor oil, used oil filters are also generated when a vehicle 's oil is changed. An estimated 85 to 90 per cent of all oil filters are tossed in the trash for disposal without being drained properly. In Canada, 40 million oil filters are generated annually, with the majority ending up in landfills. Disposal of used oil filters represents a loss of recyclable natural resources such as steel, and can result in contamination of soil and water from the residual quantities of oil. In fact, each ton of filters recovered for recycling will produce 1,700 pounds of new steel, conserve 10 cubic yards of landfill space, and reclaim 60 gallons of used oil. Today however, better draining practices and the growth of recycling opportunities are relieving some of this environmental pressure.

Used oil filters are processed by a variety of means, all of which seek to extract residual used oil from the filter canister so that the steel can be reclaimed. These processes centre around three basic approaches:

·      compaction and densification: this involves filter crushing, and 

·   cubing disassembly/shredding: this involves using mechanical means to separate metal from non-metal components in the oil filter

·      controlled burning/pyrolysis: this involves using a multi-stage controlled air combustion process. “The technology reportedly extracts and recovers a greater percentage of marketable oil than other process, produces hydrocarbon-free ferrous scrap and meets permitted air quality requirements”.7

Used Oil Containers

Each year, the do-it-yourself automotive sector discards an estimated 130 million empty oil containers, resulting in 5 million litres of oil being discarded in landfills.8 Three Ontario companies (Lincoln Canada, Graco Canada of Mississauga, and Stewart Werner of Belleville) now sell oil in bulk to ease the need for plastic containers.9

OIL MANAGEMENT INITIATIVES

Despite the fact that 92 per cent of Ontario residents would rather recycle waste oil than burn it,10 Ontario is one of the only provinces in Canada that does not have a proper monitoring and well-publicized used oil, filters and container recovery program.11 Nevertheless, there are some examples of efforts being made. According to the Canadian Petroleum Products Institute (CPPI), 400 garages and service stations across the province currently accept used motor oil from do-it-yourself generators. There are also 490 municipally-run household hazardous waste depots which accept used oil. However, these depots are often seasonal, mobile and generally have limited days and hours of operation. Thus, municipalities have ongoing concerns over the viability of these facilities. Additionally, there are 120 licensed used oil collectors in the province handling industrial lubricants. Safety-Kleen, the largest oil re-refinery in North America, is able to re-refine about 150 million litres annually.

Until 1992, Ontario did not allow the burning of used oil except in large, specially equipped facilities such as cement kilns. However, the Ministry of the Environment has reversed this policy, allowing waste oil to be burned in small industrial space heating furnaces. About a year ago, the Minister decided to reverse this policy, and placed a moratorium on the burning of used oil. Essentially, no new facilities can accept used oil for burning. Only facilities operating before the moratorium can continue to accept used oil. Currently, there are more than 700 facilities across Ontario that accept used oil for burning.12

Other Initiatives

Alberta: The Alberta Used Oil Management Association is a non-profit corporation formed by the oil and oil filter industries to manage the Lubricating Oil Material Recycling and Management Fund. Their main objective is to develop programs to increase the collection, management and recycling of used oil materials.13 In 1998-99, its first year of operation, the program recycled more than 53,000,000 litres of used oil and 4,000,000 filters.14

Saskatchewan: Similar to Alberta, the Saskatchewan Association for Resource Recovery Corporation was formed by the oil and oil filter industry to implement and maintain their used oil product management program. The primary goal is to establish a province-wide used oil materials and collection system. There are three approved end users in the province: IMC Kalium, Newalta Corporation, and Wolverine Resources. The Saskatchewan Used Oil Collection Regulation “prohibits the disposal of oil, filters and containers by any other method than the product management option”.15

New Brunswick: Safety-Kleen Canada has established a used oil recovery program in the province where there is no regulation governing the collection and disposal of waste oil. A regulation however, is being developed which will require do-it-yourselfers to return used oil to the seller. “The regulation will likely ensure that all retailers of oil, or their agents, collect used oil on site and provide it to approved collectors for transport to approved recycling or reprocessing plants”.16

Washington: The Closed Loop Oil Recycling Education Program in Bellevue, Washington encourages private-sector collection of used motor oil from do-it-yourselfers and has developed retail and fleet markets for re-refined motor oil. The project has four main goals which include:

·      Increase of the number of oil collection sites

·      Providing public education regarding the appropriate disposal of used oil and the value of re-refined motor oil

·      Expanding the number of public and private vehicle fleets using re-refined oil

·      Increasing the retail availability of re-refined motor oil.17

Chem-Ecol: This Ontario-based re-refiner treats and recovers for reuse industrial oils from generators in southern Ontario, Quebec, New York, Michigan and the eastern seaboard states. At present the plant can rapidly process batches ranging in size from 1,000 litre to 38,500 litre tank trucks. Oil reclaiming is a closed loop process; once Chem-Ecol has cleaned the oil, the company from which it was originated, reuses it in its operations. An oil dehydration and filtration process is used to clean the oil. Additives are then used to restore the oil to its original state.18 


ENDNOTES

1 Code of Practice for Used Oil Management in Canada, Canadian Council of Ministers of the Environment, 1989.
2 ibid
3 Gary Blundell, Background Paper Provincial and State Policies on Used Motor Oil Management (Recycling Council of Ontario), May 26, 1998 (1-10).
4 Safety-Kleen 1998, as cited in RCO’s Used Motor Oil Forum Proceedings 1998.
5 Robert Arner, Safe Recycling of Used Oil (Journal of Composting and Recycling BioCycle), September 1995, p.37.
6 Refer to Reference 1
7 Timothy J. Warren and Scott Cohoon, Changing our Disposal Habits: Recycling Used Oil Filters (Resource Recycling), Volume XIV, Number 2, February 1995, p.50.
8 Refer to Reference 4
9 Ontario Recycling Update, Bulk Oil Sales Key to Solution of Waste Ontario, January-March 1993.
10 RCO Update, Haz Material in Brief Recycling Best Choice for Used Oil, Volume 16, Number 10, November 21, 1996, p.2.
11 Clarissa Morawski, Used Oil, Filters, and Containers Stewardship in Ontario, February 2000.
12 Refer to Reference 3, p. 4
13 ibid
14 Recycling Canada, Oil Recycling Body Wants Containers, Too, Volume 10, Number 6, June 1999, p.3.
15 Refer to Reference 3, p.8
16 ibid, p.9
17 David Stitzel and Tom Spille, Calling all Cars: A Comprehensive Approach to Used Oil Recycling, Volume XIV, Number 3, March 1995, p.60-65.  
18 Chem-Ecol, www.chem-ecol.com/more-company.html and 1-800-263-3939

The Recycling Council of Ontario's e-mail address is: rco@rco.on.ca.