Good Morning BITOGERS. Does anyone know what a gallon of used motor oil is worth? Besides re refiners like Safety Kleen I wonder what it’s worth to asphalt companies, etc
What is used motor oil worth?
- Thread starter 53' Stude
- Start date
By the time someone hauls it, purifies it, rerefines it into something else-my guess is-not much. Probably better to just burn it in the waste oil furnace (which is where a lot of garages dispose of it).
I recycle it now by dropping it off at the local Advance Auto Parts.
When I lived in Vermont, I used to save it for the local garage (Willie’s, in Stowe) who had a waste oil heater.
They were always happy to take my used oil (knowing it was straight oil, not contaminated with solvent or coolant).
When I lived in Vermont, I used to save it for the local garage (Willie’s, in Stowe) who had a waste oil heater.
They were always happy to take my used oil (knowing it was straight oil, not contaminated with solvent or coolant).
Large scale collection, hauling and re-refining is the way to go.
A friend's father claimed Sears motor oil and others were made from re-refined oil and that many people preferred it as the resulting product was "extra clean". At 10 or 11 years old he offered us no proof (ha-ha).
Those old waste oil heaters must be an environmental horror.
A friend has a wood stove (furnace) which is fitted to burn oil too. He even cheats and starts a wood fire using the oil burner for a few guarded minutes.
One day he got the brilliant idea to shoot used oil into the fire box instead of clean fuel oil.
His house smelled like the worst bus garage for a month....after a 1 hour run.
Bad idea.
A friend's father claimed Sears motor oil and others were made from re-refined oil and that many people preferred it as the resulting product was "extra clean". At 10 or 11 years old he offered us no proof (ha-ha).
Those old waste oil heaters must be an environmental horror.
A friend has a wood stove (furnace) which is fitted to burn oil too. He even cheats and starts a wood fire using the oil burner for a few guarded minutes.
One day he got the brilliant idea to shoot used oil into the fire box instead of clean fuel oil.
His house smelled like the worst bus garage for a month....after a 1 hour run.
Bad idea.
If I didn’t work where I do; I’d do that
It’s generally indexed off the natural gas market. With some exceptions.
High quality segregated used oil streams - such as car dealerships and quick lubes, will generally command a premium for their used oil. Also, their volume is large.
Industrial used oil streams, as it’s generally group 1 and group 2 products, with who else knows what is in it, plus a ton of labor typically - will have to pay for it, even if a massive volume.
I dispose is thousands of gallons of line wash every year. We get paid for it. I bid it out in normally truck load quantities. So approximately 3000-3300 gallons at a time.
High quality segregated used oil streams - such as car dealerships and quick lubes, will generally command a premium for their used oil. Also, their volume is large.
Industrial used oil streams, as it’s generally group 1 and group 2 products, with who else knows what is in it, plus a ton of labor typically - will have to pay for it, even if a massive volume.
I dispose is thousands of gallons of line wash every year. We get paid for it. I bid it out in normally truck load quantities. So approximately 3000-3300 gallons at a time.
The auto parts stores probably pay a company like Safety-Kleen to rent their tank and then pay based on volume when they haul it away. They're not making money by "selling" it to them. The O'Reilly near me told me they frequently have "friends" of theirs or shops they sell to come in and take that oil for their waste oil furnaces. At least they save having to pay to have their hauled away...
It is worth about $4 per gallon to me! 
My old man has an auto repair shop and heats it exclusively with a waste oil burner. Over the years the other local repair shops have caught on and bring their used oil to him so they don't have to pay to dispose of it. He gets about 2,000 gallons per year and keeps the shop at 65F all winter.
I'm building a garage at my house and plan to install a small waste oil burner myself as I generate a decent amount of oil. The waste oil burners run just fine on diesel and home heating oil which goes for about $4 per gallon. So to me...that's what it is worth!
My old man has an auto repair shop and heats it exclusively with a waste oil burner. Over the years the other local repair shops have caught on and bring their used oil to him so they don't have to pay to dispose of it. He gets about 2,000 gallons per year and keeps the shop at 65F all winter.I'm building a garage at my house and plan to install a small waste oil burner myself as I generate a decent amount of oil. The waste oil burners run just fine on diesel and home heating oil which goes for about $4 per gallon. So to me...that's what it is worth!
This was 2014 or so, but my parents friend with his recycling business made about $.10 a gallon.
It became more of a pain to give him used oil up until he sold out last year so I’m guessing it was more of a hassle than it was worth.
I now take it to parts stores and try not to wait until I have 15-20 gallons. Lol
It became more of a pain to give him used oil up until he sold out last year so I’m guessing it was more of a hassle than it was worth.
I now take it to parts stores and try not to wait until I have 15-20 gallons. Lol
According to some websites depending on location
"And even with a slight efficiency disadvantage (75-80% used oil compared to 85-90% gas, 99% electric) waste oil heaters and boilers can make your used oil worth anywhere from $1.25 to more than $6.00 per gallon based on U.S. heating fuel and energy prices, depending on the fuel source it is replacing."
"And even with a slight efficiency disadvantage (75-80% used oil compared to 85-90% gas, 99% electric) waste oil heaters and boilers can make your used oil worth anywhere from $1.25 to more than $6.00 per gallon based on U.S. heating fuel and energy prices, depending on the fuel source it is replacing."
Like Bo Diddley said in the film Trading Places, "In Philadelphia it's worth fifty bucks" maybe for a 55 gallon drum.
AutoMechanic
Site Donor 2024
At work I’m not sure how much we let it go for or how much they get for collecting it. Crystal Clean I believe is the company that collects ours. PMI drops off the new oil. I do my own stuff at home and when I do I just take it to the parts store my friend works at and dump it. We’ve dumped as much as 10 gallons at once after changing the oil in dads semi. I don’t want to transport it 30 miles to work to dump it. I’ll be making a run tomorrow there as I’ll be changing oil tomorrow provided it doesn’t rain.
I ran a shop and the guy would come suck our tanks out into his tanker and the driver himself had a company checkbook and would cut the check on the spot. Problem is this was like 29 years ago when I started running the shop so I'm sure prices have changed, other problem is I can't remember what we got paid 29 years ago.
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I give it to my mother in law and tell her it helps to keep her young. It's not like I am lying! Dying of skin cancer early will stop aging all together
At least as much as raw crude oil since lube oils are the money maker.
In certain applications, Mobil-2 can be worth about $25.
