4 reasons to recycle motor oil

What should you do with your used motor oil? Traditionally, the answer to this question has been "almost anything." There are many ways to dispose of motor oil, but most of them have proven to be harmful and even disastrous for the environment. Luckily, it is now (and has been for many years) possible to recycle used motor oil. It is even convenient and simple enough for the average person to do without difficulty. But are the benefits of recycling worth the small extra effort? To be blunt, yes. Allowing used motor oil to contaminate our surrounding, even if it is just the small amount, can have dire consequences.

It’s the Law

Liquid waste is forbidden from entering landfills within the State of Oregon. In Douglas County, there is NO exception to the rule. Whether it is motor oil, paint, solvents, or any other liquid, disposal in the county landfill is NOT an option. Since motor oil is the most prevalent liquid needing to be collected, recycling opportunities are easily found. In Douglas County your used motor oil is easily recycled at any of the eleven transfer stations. Oil receptacles are available there for the public to use. These containers are intended for OIL ONLY. Gasoline should be used as intended, antifreeze should be taken to your local mechanic and recycled through them, and solvents should be used as directed or taken to the Glenwood Hazardous Waste Facility in Lane County for proper disposal.

Recycle Oil Is Useful

Recycled motor oil is very useful, and simply dumping it wastes a valuable resource. Because motor oil is not used up, it can be refined and purified again and again into a useful product, so there is no sense in throwing it away. In fact, refining used motor oil is much more efficient than refining crude oil from virgin sources. Once it is refined, your used motor oil could end up in a variety of different places. It could end up as base stock for lubricating oil—something that much larger amounts of crude oil would have had to be refined to accomplish. Alternatively, it could end up as fuel in a power plant or furnace specifically designed for the task. It could be used to create asphalt or cement. It could even end up being used as motor oil a second time. As you can see, your used motor oil is an important resource that is not to be taken lightly or wasted.

Keeping Drinking Water Clean

Motor oil that people dump into their lawns, drains, gravel or other places WILL eventually end up in lakes, streams, and ground water. This can cause serious problems with water that is supposed to be clean. Because it takes only 1 gallon of motor oil to contaminate 1 million gallons of drinking water, even a small amount of motor oil dumped improperly can cause serious problems, thus making it very important for each individual person and business to dispose of their used motor oil properly.

Protecting Wildlife

Although your used motor oil will not create destruction on the scale you see on TV after an oil spill, motor oil that is not disposed of properly is a serious problem for many wildlife populations. A great deal of used motor oil that is not recycled ends up in the ocean, carried there by waterways that drain there naturally. Used motor oil in the ocean can cause a wide variety of damage.

For more information visit http://www.recyclepower.org/ and don’t forget, reduce, reuse, and recycle to “Trash Douglas County Less!”