Oil container disposal

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I put them in the recycle, plastic is a petroleum product and so is any oil residual. Im sure they'd be on the no recycle notice, since ive been doing it for years
 
it was bothering me that i was throwing away thick plastic jugs out in the trash...spent couple hours looking online and calling different places to see if they take plastic bottles/jugs that at one point had fresh OR used oil in them, and all of those places either sounded confused or said that they don't take those and that they go in the regular trash bins.

as for the recycling symbol on the bottom...i'm merely speculating, but i feel as though they have to put those on there due to some law or something? it just means hey look this bottle uses "whatever" plastic which is recyclable however; we can't guarantee that it'll be recyclable once it's been contaminated, aka used/fresh oil. as you might know, same thing goes for cardboard. it's recyclable, but they won't take cardboard that has grease stains and such.

something about not being able to separate the oil from the plastic during the melting or whatever process?

https://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.highlight/abstract/7974

-It has been shown that an "empty" 1-quart plastic bottle contains 1 to 2 ounces of oil.
-It has been estimated that 2 billion bottles are disposed of annually, the majority in sanitary landfills.
-An estimated 260 million pounds of recyclable plastic and an estimated 16 million gallons of recyclable oil are thrown away each year.


-Scientist Develops Way to Recycle Used Motor Oil Containers-
https://www.lsuagcenter.com/portals...way-to-recycle-used-motor-oil-containers
 
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Originally Posted by DirtyOilGuy
it was bothering me that i was throwing away thick plastic jugs out in the trash...spent couple hours looking online and calling different places to see if they take plastic bottles/jugs that at one point had fresh OR used oil in them, and all of those places either sounded confused or said that they don't take those and that they go in the regular trash bins.

as for the recycling symbol on the bottom...i'm merely speculating, but i feel as though they have to put those on there due to some law or something? it just means hey look this bottle uses "whatever" plastic which is recyclable however; we can't guarantee that it'll be recyclable once it's been contaminated, aka used/fresh oil. as you might know, same thing goes for cardboard. it's recyclable, but they won't take cardboard that has grease stains and such.

something about not being able to separate the oil from the plastic during the melting or whatever process?

https://cfpub.epa.gov/ncer_abstracts/index.cfm/fuseaction/display.highlight/abstract/7974

-It has been shown that an "empty" 1-quart plastic bottle contains 1 to 2 ounces of oil.
-It has been estimated that 2 billion bottles are disposed of annually, the majority in sanitary landfills.
-An estimated 260 million pounds of recyclable plastic and an estimated 16 million gallons of recyclable oil are thrown away each year.


-Scientist Develops Way to Recycle Used Motor Oil Containers-
https://www.lsuagcenter.com/portals...way-to-recycle-used-motor-oil-containers




You are the perfect target customer for the new bag in a box oils.
 
I use a burning barrel.
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I just throw them in the regular trash, never thought anything of it. Used oil itself gets dropped off at my local O'reillys for free!
 
Here the HDPE oil bottles go in their own bin at the county recycling center. They want them first put in their drain rack, which is a bit of a joke, because I drain them in advance more thoroughly than their method can possibly do it. There's another barrel for HDPE antifreeze containers, and still another for HDPE food and drink containers.
 
I take mine to work where we have them picked up by a company which recycles them. Halton and Peel regions consider them hazardous household items.
 
Originally Posted by CR94
Here the HDPE oil bottles go in their own bin at the county recycling center. They want them first put in their drain rack, which is a bit of a joke, because I drain them in advance more thoroughly than their method can possibly do it. There's another barrel for HDPE antifreeze containers, and still another for HDPE food and drink containers.

The city-operated recycling center I use has a single HDPE (#2) bin. And I noted that the overwhelming smell was of scented laundry detergent and fabric softener.
 
People can drain or clean their plastic oil bottles all they want, but it is a waste of time. When the mixed recyclables get sorted, they will pull anything remotely related to a oil container and send it to the landfill.
 
Originally Posted by Jimmy_Russells
I'm blown away it's normal in some places to throw plastic in the garbage. Crazy

How would it be handled otherwise? Oil jugs cannot be cleaned without polluting the sewers or groundwater.
 
Originally Posted by PimTac
Originally Posted by Jimmy_Russells
I'm blown away it's normal in some places to throw plastic in the garbage. Crazy

How would it be handled otherwise? Oil jugs cannot be cleaned without polluting the sewers or groundwater.

A small amount of used motor oil ends up in sewage anyways, unless people refuse to wash their hands or shop rag suppliers don't actually launder them like they claim they do. A small amount of used oil ends up in trash too. It's not illegal to dispose of a paper towel used to wipe a dipstick (and gas stations deal with that all the time), although it's probably illegal to simply toss a quart bottle of used motor oil in municipal refuse.

I remember one time I was trying to figure out if it would be legal for me to dump used coolant down the drain. The bottle of coolant I bought said to dispose of used coolant properly, but that it could be disposed in a "hygienic sewage system" where it was legal. I called up the local utility that operated the sewers. I got this answer that "You're not supposed to but our system can handle small amounts of almost anything." I wasn't sure if it was a hint not to worry about dumping a couple of gallons, but I saved it and disposed of it at a hazardous waste pickup event.
 
Most "recycled" plastic ends up in a landfill anyways now that China has stopped taking our crap. Good for them. We've been offshoring our plastic addiction for too long.
 
Seems the old paper oil can with the metal ends would be easier to recycle or even break down in a landfill vs the plastic bottle/jug.
 
It's usually not illegal to dispose of unused motor oil. If I really wanted to get rid of an unused jug of Pennzoil I believe most places it would be legal to just toss it in the trash.

The problem is when used motor oil is stored in a container. The majority of my motor oil containers have never contained used oil. I typically reuse the jugs that I've used to store used motor oil and eventually dispose of them. They're kind of perfect for the county haz waste disposal facility since they tell everyone to leave stuff in the container.
 
When I worked for So Cal Edison we used mineral oil for transformers. The oil was not hazardous waste until it goes in a transformer, then it was hazardous waste. I do not think it is the same thing though.

New oil then has to be put in a classification. Hazardous materials?

https://www.reusablepackaging.org/w...us-of-Motor-Oil-and-Related-Products.doc

A trucker has to have a hazardous materials endorsement and hazardous material shipping papers.

There are no restrictions on new oil shipping, so new oil is not hazardous material.
 
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Originally Posted by spasm3
Seems the old paper oil can with the metal ends would be easier to recycle or even break down in a landfill vs the plastic bottle/jug.

Back in the paper oil can days I'd incinerate the empty cans. When they switched to plastic I thought the waste would be tough on the environment. Compounding the problem was that gallon jugs were practically nonexistent for around 10 years.
 
Originally Posted by nomas
I save my used oil and pour it on the tires that I'm burning .
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murica….
 
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