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What Are the Benefits of Recycling Oil?

Oil is an important resource in our economy. Motor oils are products that lubricate the engines and machines that run our cars and industry. Motor oils must be changed due to contamination and age. When they are changed, the old oil must be disposed of. Recycling is the best option for motor oil. It keeps oil from polluting the environment and can be reused in new products.

  1. Health and Environmental Benefits

    • Spilled oil can run into local waterways.

      Recycling motor oil keeps it out of the environment. Oil is toxic to living things and slow to degrade. Disposing of oil in regular trash may seep into ground water. Dumping oil into storm drains flushes it straight into rivers and other waterways that are home to animals and sources of drinking water. One gallon of motor oil can create an eight-acre oil slick and pollute up to one million gallons of water. If spilled on the ground, that oil can render four acres of land unplantable for decades.

    Reconditioning and Reuse

    • Industrial oil can be reconditioned to save money.

      Motor oils can be reconditioned for reuse as lubricants. Motor oil becomes contaminated over time and through heavy use. Contaminants such as dirt, chemicals and water can get in and degrade the oil. Commercial filtration systems helps industry recondition oil for reuse in factories and machines. This saves the industrial customers from having to buy new oil. Some industries use cascading lubrication, where spent high quality motor oils are used reconditioned and used in applications that require lower quality oils. This can go through several steps before oil loses its usability. Car oil can be collected and recycled to produce reconditioned oil. That oil is cheaper than new synthetic oil and can provide similar protection for engines.

    Conserve Resources

    • Recycling motor oil means less needs to be extracted.

      Recycling motor oil for different purposes saves resources. Motor oil that is recycled means fewer raw materials have to be extracted. Less extraction also saves energy, as petroleum does not need to be shipped from foreign nations to be refined into motor oil.

    Energy Source

    • Used motor oil can be used as a fuel source.

      Used motor oil is a petroleum product and as such can be used as an energy source. Motor oil can be recycled only so many times before it is no longer usable as lubricant. When it reaches that stage, it can be reconditioned for use as energy source. Many power plants, furnaces and industrial kilns can burn used motor oil to provide electricity and energy. According to earth911.org, up to 74 percent of all oil recycling is done by burning oil for energy.

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