oil diposal. Do they get paid for the used oil?

[Kruse]

Originally Posted By: accent2012
Also, what about all of the other fluids, like:

brake fluid

coolant

transmission fluid

Who collects them (for free)?



Once a year, we have a place in the area here that collects any of those fluids for free, no questions asked. They figure it's better to collect and safely dispose of it instead of somebody illegally dumping it.

 

[exranger06]

There was a shop in my town that used to charge customers a disposal fee for used oil. Even if the customer had the shop do an oil change, they tacked on the disposal fee. This shop had a waste oil heater. So, not only did they not have to pay for heating oil,they actually GOT paid for it. That shop is under new management now, not sure if they're still shady.

 

[bdcardinal]

Originally Posted By: exranger06
There was a shop in my town that used to charge customers a disposal fee for used oil. Even if the customer had the shop do an oil change, they tacked on the disposal fee. This shop had a waste oil heater. So, not only did they not have to pay for heating oil,they actually GOT paid for it. That shop is under new management now, not sure if they're still shady.


We get charged to have our waste oil taken away. Same with coolant, brake fluid and filters. All are considered HAZMAT in California and the cost we get charged is put on repair orders exactly what we get billed.

 

[artificialist]

Originally Posted By: exranger06
There was a shop in my town that used to charge customers a disposal fee for used oil. Even if the customer had the shop do an oil change, they tacked on the disposal fee. This shop had a waste oil heater. So, not only did they not have to pay for heating oil,they actually GOT paid for it. That shop is under new management now, not sure if they're still shady.

That is a common practice.

One reason they may charge is because they need to buy a waste oil tank and maintain it.

Other times they do this because sometimes filter disposal companies charge to remove old fliters. The used filter company usually provides the repair shop with 55 gallon drums for storage, so that eliminates the need for a storage system.

Still, I see oil and filter disposal charges that would far exceed the price of all that stuff.

Antifreeze is often removed for free. Some companies will supply a repair shop with a 55 gallon drum to store old antifreeze, and sell cheaply a 55 gallon drum of antifreeze which had the contaminents removed from the old stuff and new anti-corrosive additives included. I never saw any billing info that actually told me how cheap that like-new recycled antifreeze costs, but it is cost effective.

Brake fluid and PAG oils are accepted by oil recyclers, so long as the percentage of it in used oil is acceptable. I encountered that problem when taking my old brake fluid to Advance Auto. Autozone never gave me a problem accepting oil brake fluid.

 

[TiredTrucker]

I can't speak to every situation, but on the commercial truck side, no... there is no payment for the used oil. The reverse is true. The fleets have to pay someone like Safety Kleen to come and pump it out of the storage sump and haul it off. I know a couple of smaller shops in my area that the same thing applies. That is why, many times, a disposal fee is assessed on a lube bill. Used oil may be a commodity, but there is a limited number of companies that haul it away. They pretty much have a monopoly on the market, so if you want the used oil hauled off, you get to pay for them to come and get it. It sure is not like there are thousands of companies out there competing to get their hands on someone's bulk used oil.

In my own commercial experience, at best I had my oil supplier take the used oil off my hands with no fee to haul away. They made their money on my oil purchases so they threw in the taking the used oil off my hands for free.

 

[y_p_w]

California has a requirement that any place that sells a certain amount of motor oil has to collect it. At one time they were supposed to pay for it too like a bottle deposit. I think that has gone away.

My hometown had a recycling center that paid for recyclables once upon a time. They had good prices for aluminum and motor oil (something like 40 cents/quart). I couldn't figure out why, and it still doesn't make much sense back then when new motor oil could be had for less than a dollar a quart and the used oil had limited used (probably just for oil burning). They got rid of their payments. It was probably costing them a bunch, but their oil collection was still pretty good. It was self-serve, so you didn't have to deal with a store employee who might seem annoyed that they weren't helping sell stuff.

 

[HM12460]

Used to work at a large paper mill in Muskegon, MI. that closed in 2009. Safety-Kleen paid us either .20 or .25 per gallon for our waste/drain oil. That included gear oils, diesel oil, hydraulic fluid, pump lube oil etc...

 

[artificialist]

Originally Posted By: y_p_w
My hometown had a recycling center that paid for recyclables once upon a time. They had good prices for aluminum and motor oil (something like 40 cents/quart). I couldn't figure out why, and it still doesn't make much sense back then when new motor oil could be had for less than a dollar a quart and the used oil had limited used (probably just for oil burning). They got rid of their payments. It was probably costing them a bunch, but their oil collection was still pretty good. It was self-serve, so you didn't have to deal with a store employee who might seem annoyed that they weren't helping sell stuff.

The parts store employee isn't just there to show you where to dump your oil. They are paid to check that gasoline, paint thinner, and antifreeze get mixed with oil.

At the self serve dump, does anybody know if used oil is being mixed with stuff that doesn't belong?

 

[gregoron]

If these oil change places are getting paid for OUR used oil, why do they still charge their customers oil disposal fee? BTW, I change my own oil and drop off the used one to them for free.

EDIT: nevermind. This was answered above. Should have read first.