What do you do with your old oil?

[uart]

I went to drop off the oil from my last change on the weekend and the place where I normally take it has stopped collecting oil for recycling. It used to be really convenient because it was only about 2km from my house. Now I'm looking around for other places in my area that take oil for recycling and there's none nearby. Looks like I'll now have to drive about 80km (round trip) out of town just to drop off my oil I guess now I'll stash my used oil and just make the trip when I've got about five or six jugs to drop off. We used to have quite a few places around here where you could drop off used oil. One by one they've stopped accepting it. I spoke to one of the proprietors and he said the reason was the number of people dropping off oil in leaking or otherwise inappropriate (eg easily broken) containers and causing a huge mess on their premises. Do others here have good access to recycling points to drop off their used oil. Is anyone else having my problem? Does anyone have any novel DIY recycling methods in place?

 

[Clevy]

I leave mine at the front doors of the mr.lube.

 

[PaleRider]

I have saved a few 5 gallon Valvoline pails and fill those up. When they are full I bring them over to our local municipal recycling. I hand them to the mechanics in the shop for their waste oil heater. We don`t have the "public" tank to fill on our own anymore... To many {<span style="font-style: italic">bypassing the censor</span>} contaminating the used oil tank with antifreeze and whatever... yup a few bozo`s ruined a great thing...

 

[Dave Sherman]

I have a few old 1-gallon plastic bottles that I save it in, then take it to Autozone and dump it in their tank. I have wondered how long that's going to last, since I frequently see spilled oil around the tank, and every time I go I see the lid with the big "Warning: This lid must remain closed" standing wide open.

 

[BigCahuna]

I take mine to R&S, Auto zone or whatever store is handy. I believe there is a law that says if they sell oil to the public, they have to take the oil to be recycled.I usually only bring 2 gallons at a time to dump.,,

 

[cchase]

Out in the street there's this big hole covered with slats. I usually just dump it down there. Never been a problem.

 

[tsduke]

I have a independently owned gas/service station a few blocks away. I just walk into the shop and dump it myself. Don't Walmarts with service centers take oil as well?

 

[Doog]

My town recycles it.

 

[JHZR2]

town has a dump that accepts drop-off of waste oil. Just leave it at the collection point. Antifreeze too.

 

[exranger06]

Originally Posted By: BigCahuna

...I believe there is a law that says if they sell oil to the public, they have to take the oil to be recycled...

Not true at all. I don't know if that's a state law or what, but here in CT it's definitely NOT a law. I work at Napa, and we don't take used oil. The Wal-Mart down the street doesn't take oil either. I take my oil to the town transfer station.

 

[Bayman]

I take my used oil up the road to a Dealership and they use it to heat the building during the winter time.

 

[4D-56]

take it to AAP.

 

[uart]

Originally Posted By: cchase

Out in the street there's this big hole covered with slats. I usually just dump it down there. Never been a problem.

Ah cool we've got one of them out in our street too. So that's what they're for.

 

[Bayman]

Originally Posted By: stro_cruiser

take it to AAP.

It looks like the OP lives in AUSTRALIA.

 

[AuthorEditor]

The town recycling station takes it and it is less than a mile from where I work, but I also can take it to my local friendly Advance Auto where I visit too often to buy parts for my old beaters. However, someone did mention the alternate solution which is to burn it for heat. I used to drop my used oil off at a boatyard that heated this way.

 

[uart]

Originally Posted By: PaleRider

To many contaminating the used oil tank with antifreeze and whatever... yup a few bozo`s ruined a great thing...

Yeah I think that might be what has happened here too. The way I'm seeing it is that they'd need to staff the collection point to stop the bozo's from doing the wrong thing, and then it just wouldn't be worth the effort.

 

[SLCraig]

I actually take it to the local landfill that deals with it. It's free, and its not too far away.

 

[Bill in Utah]

Take it to the Walmart where they recycle the oil and take care of the containers. Very good service that they provide. Bill

 

[daman]

Take it to work and dump it in our 1500 gal wast oil tank.

 

[Donald]

NY has a law that places need to take used oil if they offer oil changes or something close to that. Walmart takes it and has you fill out a log. I read the log and about 5 gallons a week come back to Walmart. My local shop takes used oil for the shop's furnace so I try and keep it clean(ish) and return it to him. The last time I went in for a repair, I brought him maybe 6 gallons. He should have paid ME for the repair since I saved him about $20 in fuel oil.