O'Reilly's took my used oil but not the bottles; should I throw them in garbage?

Our garbage/recycler says we can recycle:

Quote
Plastic Bottles (empty, crush, reattach lid): Bottles and jugs that have a small mouth and wider base, such as milk jugs, soda bottles, laundry detergent bottles, water bottles, shampoo bottles and contact solution bottles.

They have a list of items you can't recycle and nothing mentioned about exceptions, including oils, fluids, etc. Mine go in the recycle bin....
 
O'Reilly's has never taken the oil containers. They don't even want you to throw them in their trash bin. Autozone always asks if I want them back. I reuse a big 2.5 gal jug that I've had for years.
 
Originally Posted by Rand
its hit or miss.. they will toss them in their dumpster for me about 50% of the time.


I try and reuse them when I can.
 
I'd leave them upside down on a grate over a drain pan over night to fully drain and become as dry as possible, then toss them into regular trash.

The amount of residual oil film left over in the bottles after draining a night isn't going to matter in a landfill. The problem is when people dump oil in the incorrect place, or large quantities of oil in a landfill enough to move and migrate around or possibly pass through whatever membrane they use for the landfill barrier. Nothing left on the walls of a plastic bottle is enough to make a difference when the landfill is all done and capped over.
 
Originally Posted by NoNameJoe
I'd leave them upside down on a grate over a drain pan over night to fully drain and become as dry as possible

I do this because I use the same container to collect the drained oil next time. Our local AutoZone takes the containers. Like this, I have gathered almost half a quart of oil.
 
Not recyclable here; instructions state to just toss them in the trash. I feel like a real jerk every time I do it!
 
Many times our recycling is being rejected by the people that buy it due to too much contamination. If it's over a certain % (I think 3%) they will reject the load and it goes to landfill. Do not put oil containers in recycling.

I think we've done a poor job of rolling out recycling years ago. Too much YOU MUST RECYCLE. Instead of teaching people how to do it properly.

Off my soapbox...
 
I am burning stumps, I drill holes in the stump and fill with oil, put down the bottles, add some wood over the top, no stump.

Rod
 
If I'm not using a 5 quart jug of oil, I use old washer fluid bottles. Most parts stores and Wal*Marts around me don't have time and just ask me to leave the jug "over there" and maybe sign the book. So I'm not getting anything back.

Our local recycling doesn't want oil bottles, even if all they've had is new oil, in the recycling stream. So in the trash they go.

If it's a problem at your parts store, put them in the big trash cans outside the door of the store where everyone who gets some top up oil or rebuilds their transmission in the parking lot does the same.
 
I suspect most of us would be very surprised about how small a percentage of the things that we send away in the recycling truck actually get recycled. Most of the municipalities have sorters that watch the items go by on a conveyor. They pick up only the items that the recycler will accept, the rest goes into the landfill along with all of the other regular contaminated garbage we discard.

Hint: the percentage of items selected is small.
 
Leo99: You're right. Mention "recycling" to 100 people and you'll see stupid faces and hear defiance.

PimTac: I really enjoy breathing the burnt plastic. Thank you for your involvement and "doing your part".
 
By the letter of the law, at least here, "empty" bottles must not have more than 1 drop of oil in them when tossed in the trash. A Ford dealer near us was fined a substantial amount of money for having oil bottles in the dumpster that when held upside down dropped a bit of oil.
 
Originally Posted by blupupher
Weird, at my local Auto Zone, I have to ask for my jugs back (I like the mobil jugs, they have a big opening that my funnel fits into).
They also will not let me take it back and dump it myself anymore. I guess someone screwed up their tank.


My AZ used to walk back there with me to dump the oil; I have a big 12 quart container I use. Said someone missed the opening and poured about 10 quarts all over the floor and left. Also left a bunch of used antifreeze.
 
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