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Recycle Automotive Fluids

How do I recycle oil?

  1. Remove the used oil from your vehicle. Do not spill any on the ground.
  2. Collect the oil in a clean plastic container with a tight lid such as a milk jug. You can also purchase a reusable oil pan/container from most local merchants that sell oil.
  3. Do not contaminate the oil by storing it in old paint cans and other metal containers, or in plastic bottles that once contained antifreeze, gasoline, solvents, bleach, or other cleaners.
  4. Always label the container Used Oil and keep out of reach of children and pets.
  5. Recycle the oil by bringing it to one of the local businesses that have agreed to accept used automotive products at no charge to individuals.

Who can recycle?
Do you change your own motor oil at home? If so, you are among the 60% of motorists in this country that do so. These Do-It-Yourselfers (DIYers), as they are often called, take pride in their workmanship, value their cars, and enjoy saving money. Yet only 10% of DIYers recycle their oil.

What is being recycled?
About 1.1 billion gallons of motor oil are sold annually according to the American Petroleum Institute (API). DIYer purchases account for about 345 million gallons of that oil. Yet 200 million gallons of DIYer used motor oil is improperly disposed of each year. (Compare with the 10 million gallons of oil spilled on the Alaskan coast from the Exxon Valdez.) So where does it all go?

Where does non-recycled oil go?
Unfortunately, much of this country’s used oil ends up in landfills, backyards, sewers, or storm drains. In fact, the EPA estimates that the largest single source of oil pollution harming our nation’s waters is from DIYers. Used motor oil from a single oil change can ruin a million gallons of fresh water—a year’s supply for 50 people. These actions can pollute our waterways and groundwater and contaminate our drinking water.

As of 2007, it is illegal for residents to dispose of used oil
in Colorado’s landfills, on the ground, or in our waterways.

Why recycle oil?
Our vehicles need oil to run smoothly. But that oil never wears out—it just gets dirty! With time, oil that has circulated through a car engine contains toxic chemicals and heavy metals. Oil is also insoluble, persistent, and slow to degrade. Definitely not something we want in our soil or rivers!

But oil can be re-refined countless times—each time cleaned and ensured of the same stringent standards as “virgin” oil. And it takes half as much energy than refining crude oil. Re-refined oil also meets warranty requirements for new autos. Agencies such as the U.S. Postal Service and the National Park Service use re-refined oil in all their vehicles.

Used motor oil can also be reprocessed into fuel for furnaces, power plants and manufacturing facilities to provide heat and energy. The City of Durango and La Plata County both use their used fleet oil in waste oil burners that heat their maintenance shops.

Recycling 2 gallons of used oil can generate enough energy to:

The Crude Facts

To make 2½ quarts of lubricating oil, it takes 42 gallons of high quality crude oil OR 1 gallon of used oil.

If all the oil from Do-It-Yourself oil changes were recycled, it would be enough motor oil for more than 50 million cars a year. That’s a savings of over 1.3 billion barrels of crude oil PER DAY!