Dispose of used brake fluid?

[Tireman9]

Too often the old method of "just dump it" continues to this day.

Clearly any thinking person must realize that just diluting poisons and other pollutants is not a satisfactory method. Brake fluid and anti-freeze doesn't simply evaporate.

Would you consider it OK to throw old lead acid batteries in the ditch by the side of the road where the lead can leach into the water system that could eventually be drunk by your children or grandchildren?

I contacted the service center where I get car oil changes and they were willing to take old oil, brake fluid and antifreeze and tires.
I know that they generate enough waste that they have to recycle these materials properly using commercial services.

In addition to the above, I recycle all metal, glass, plastic and paper not contaminated with food. We generate less than 30 gal trash bag volume of stuff total per week.

[Bigd9]

Originally Posted by George Schweikle

Hi Bigd9,

Thanks, I already know about our local hazardous waste disposal days. I posted the question here just to see if anyone had found a different (approved) disposal process. However tempting it is to combine brake fluid with my recycled motor oil, I'm just not gonna do this.

I apologize George, I knew you knew that. My comment wasn't clear enough I'm afraid. I was trying to make a statement that a city the size of Lexington should have a center where you can drop off brake fluid and other HHW during working hours and they store it until it is time to call in the recycling company who has the proper equipment.

Pete

[Bigd9]

Originally Posted by Tireman9

Too often the old method of "just dump it" continues to this day.

Clearly any thinking person must realize that just diluting poisons and other pollutants is not a satisfactory method. Brake fluid and anti-freeze doesn't simply evaporate.

Would you consider it OK to throw old lead acid batteries in the ditch by the side of the road where the lead can leach into the water system that could eventually be drunk by your children or grandchildren?

I contacted the service center where I get car oil changes and they were willing to take old oil, brake fluid and antifreeze and tires.
I know that they generate enough waste that they have to recycle these materials properly using commercial services.

In addition to the above, I recycle all metal, glass, plastic and paper not contaminated with food. We generate less than 30 gal trash bag volume of stuff total per week.

Well said Mr. Tireman9. You are so right. Our country is slowly moving in the right direction, but there are still pockets where we just don't have any choice. Living out in the country we don't get opportunities to recycle properly. The towns don't want us to bring things to them since we don't pay city taxes, and the counties do not supply trash pickup, but rather depend on each of us to contract with a pickup service. We are stuck right in the middle.

As for batteries, do you know where they are sent to be "recycled"?

In my previous life building roads and bridges, we would frequently encounter 55 gallon drums filled with unknown liquids, forgotten underground tanks, and the worse of all an area where in days past, the railroad would just dump the engine oils on the ground. 1000's and 1000's of gallons over the years. The cleanup cost is staggering. A low level nuclear waste site about 50 miles from us will cost Over 80 million of your tax dollars to not clean up, but to just contain it for 100 years!

Used engine oil is easy to find a place to get it recycled. But like the original posted said, what on earth do we do with all the other stuff we don't want anymore?

[Harley1994]

George, Not sure in your part of the country whether or not auto shops use the waste oil heaters or not but we used old oil in a special heater that burned it, we burned everything from gear oil to brake fluid. in fact shops up here in upstate ny. have been known to buy old oil.

[Hikerdogs]

Many of the current recycling and disposal laws are archaic. In our state there are dozens of items that are prohibited from landfills and other disposal sites, yet there are no alternative places to dispose of them.

For years there was a disposal fee for old tires. The fee's got so high that some people resorted to leaving them at rest areas and along side country roads. Finally in the last few years landfills will take them again, but move them off to a special area for recycling.

In our municipality we had an annual day to dispose of hazardous materials at no charge. In the last couple years that's gone away and there's a $15.00 fee for disposing of even small amounts. With fee's that high it's not hard to imagine what will happen to most materials.

Somehow it doesn't seem logical to be able to buy a quart of brake fluid for less than $10.00 then have to pay another $15.00 to dispose of it.

Personally I'd like to see a system instituted where the retailers of items prohibited in the landfills would charge a small disposal fee at the time of sale. Then the used items would be returned to the retailer for disposal. The retailers could then afford to contract with recyclers to purchase the unwanted materials.

A similar system has been in place for lead acid batteries for decades. The retailers add a "core charge" on the sale of every new battery. When the old battery is returned the customer's "core charge" is refunded. At this point over 98.5% of all lead acid batteries sold in the US are recycled.

[George Schweikle]

Pete,

No apology needed. You actually got me thinking that I should ask about a local drop off center. Lexington has a pretty good recycling system, and they claim to be making a profit from the activity.

And, like Tireman9, we recycle everything that can be. My wife even makes me take empty water bottles and aluminum cans back from our shorter motorhome trips for recycling. Sometimes, the storage bays get kinda crowded.

Originally Posted by Bigd9

I apologize George, I knew you knew that. My comment wasn't clear enough I'm afraid. I was trying to make a statement that a city the size of Lexington should have a center where you can drop off brake fluid and other HHW during working hours and they store it until it is time to call in the recycling company who has the proper equipment.

Pete