Where do you take your used trans, p/s fluids

[Colt45ws]

Originally Posted By: Blazered
Don't put other fluids in with oil to recycle - particularly brake fluid. It can contaminate all the other oil in the drum and make it non recyclable.


Me and a friend chatted with the guy picking up the used oil at WM awhile back.
We asked him how often does he come across contamination.
Every day, he said. He told us there are some shops he visits that dump their mop water and anything else into the used oil tank.
Since they get paid per gallon, they basically are trying to get more money.
He told us they then balk at the piddly amount they get paid and wonder why.

So, basically, I wouldnt worry about a little contamination.

 

[supton]

Originally Posted By: TrevorS
Originally Posted By: supton
What do you do with coolant?


You fill the radiator and cooling system with it. It helps keep the engine cool.

Used coolant I can also give to my home pick up service.


Ha. Ha. Ha...

No, used to be you could dump it down the toilet. Not sure I want to with my septic. I don't think my transfer station takes coolant, maybe one of the local garages would. I don't generate much nor often, but curious now.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: supton
Originally Posted By: TrevorS
Originally Posted By: supton
What do you do with coolant?


You fill the radiator and cooling system with it. It helps keep the engine cool.

Used coolant I can also give to my home pick up service.


Ha. Ha. Ha...

No, used to be you could dump it down the toilet. Not sure I want to with my septic. I don't think my transfer station takes coolant, maybe one of the local garages would. I don't generate much nor often, but curious now.

It's legal in some sanitary sewer systems, but you'd have to ask. I called once to the city where I lived at the time and asked if the sewage system could handle used coolant. I sort of got an indirect answer. I was told that we weren't supposed to, but a small amount like a couple of gallons would be handled easily. I don't know if it was a hint to just go ahead, but I simply saved my coolant and dropped it off with the county.

My county has a couple of small hazardous waste collection facilities. The one that would serve me is open maybe M-W and the first Sat of the month. I've been there a few times, and the procedure is that you leave the waste in your trunk, pop it, and then let a county employee in a Tyvek protective suit remove it from the trunk.

I remember when there used to be publicized waste disposal events. We had to call in for an appointment and they were usually in home improvement store parking lots. I'm thinking the stores didn't mind giving up the parking space since people would then come in to shop. I remember the time I did that, I also had an unopened case of Pennzoil 5w30 in the trunk, and the worker joked if I wanted him to take that off my hands.

As for PS, diff, trans fluids - they all just lubricating oils and can be recycled as such. While I suppose brake fluid might be recycled mixed with the oil, the city nearby that accepts motor oil won't allow motor oil contaminated with brake fluid. They sell it to recyclers, and it makes it harder to recycle because it's not oil. They probably get their oil tested before selling it to the waste oil recycler, and I'm pretty sure that it would severely reduce the spot price they'll pay, and those payments help fund the service.

 

[dwcopple]

AAP

 

[DBMaster]

I think this thread is interesting. Regardless of what you do with the used fluids you can see that you should use extended life products and avoid changing them prematurely. The less material needing disposal, the better. I can say with fair certainty that there are still those who throw their stuff in the trash, or dump it somewhere they shouldn't. We can't do anything about that, but we can minimize our own disposal needs.

 

[901Memphis]

I put it in the same jug as my used oil and dump them together at AZ

 

[artificialist]

I'm really surprised that there are local parts stores that don't take ATF, gear oil, and PSF. I remember my local autozone even had a big sign attached to the oil recycle bin stating that transmission fluids, petroleum based hydraulic fluids, gear oils, and engine oil is acceptable.

Brake fluid is something recyclers don't like, because of the moisture it absorbed. That is why not all recyclers will take it.

Auto repair shops typically take used coolant at no charge. In many cases, ethylene glycol has become so valuable that recyclers take used coolant away for free.

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: artificialist
I'm really surprised that there are local parts stores that don't take ATF, gear oil, and PSF. I remember my local autozone even had a big sign attached to the oil recycle bin stating that transmission fluids, petroleum based hydraulic fluids, gear oils, and engine oil is acceptable.

Brake fluid is something recyclers don't like, because of the moisture it absorbed. That is why not all recyclers will take it.

Auto repair shops typically take used coolant at no charge. In many cases, ethylene glycol has become so valuable that recyclers take used coolant away for free.

I found the following from the State of Maryland Dept of the Environment:

Looks like a used fluids collection facility. The used antifreeze tank is huge. I'm wondering what they might do since some people use propylene glycol coolants as well as ethylene glycol and diethylene glycol mixtures.

I can't find anything like it in California. Most shops contract with waste haulers. In my county, businesses are able to use the county hazardous waste collection facility for a fee. Households aren't charged.

 

[Spazdog]

Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: Brybo86
i drop them off at the back door of autozone usually


That's what I do, either AZ or AAP gets them.


I hated that.

I would show up for work the morning after Thanksgiving and several people had left 5 gallon buckets of cooking oil blocking the backdoor. Probably peanut oil.

It's actually illegal to just leave it like that here. Your state/city may vary.

For the record, the Saf-T-Kleen recycling truck driver looked at the containers, squinted a little, dumped them in the container, and pumped it into the truck.

So circa 2000, some ocean going vessel was running on "bio marine fuel"

 

[y_p_w]

Originally Posted By: Spazdog
Originally Posted By: demarpaint
Originally Posted By: Brybo86
i drop them off at the back door of autozone usually


That's what I do, either AZ or AAP gets them.


I hated that.

I would show up for work the morning after Thanksgiving and several people had left 5 gallon buckets of cooking oil blocking the backdoor. Probably peanut oil.

It's actually illegal to just leave it like that here. Your state/city may vary.

For the record, the Saf-T-Kleen recycling truck driver looked at the containers, squinted a little, dumped them in the container, and pumped it into the truck.

So circa 2000, some ocean going vessel was running on "bio marine fuel"

I remember going to Disneyland and learned that they converted their locomotives on the Disneyland Railroad to operate on B98 biodiesel - basically as a heating oil to heat up the firebox. They used to run on #2 fuel oil like most oil burning steam locomotives.

As you could probably imagine, Disneyland puts out a lot of used cooking oil.

 

[Ken2]

Quote:
So circa 2000, some ocean going vessel was running on "bio marine fuel"
Heavy fuel oil needs to be mixed with "cutter stock" to get the desired specific gravity. Cutter stock can be anything that burns including hazardous waste (illegal, of course, but it's been done), waste hydraulic oil, condemned diesel fuel, etc. In a few cases it has caused problems for the crew, but they work their way through it. I've seen some that would not burn clean and always caused smoke from the stack, and I've had other that had such increased consumption that I wasn't sure we'd make it on the leg from Guam to our next port of call and planned refueling port, Busan, Korea. We made it, but with not much fuel remaining.

My county has waste oil recycling tanks where they ask for only motor oil, but other oils seem to cause them no problem. At the same place they have a waste antifreeze tank. The free public hazardous waste location takes brake fluid.

 

[SS1970chrysler]

Except for coolant and brake fluid, all the others go into my furnace.