"Throw it in the trash" he said,

[Ray,IN]

Back in the 60's a Uncle owned a service station and did the same with used oil. Across the street was a discount gas station that sold re-refined oil for half the price of new, they did a whopping business too.

Today, my mechanic shop uses a oil burning furnace to heat the building. The owners say they now don't levy the reclamation fee on used oil, nor pay to get rid of it either. Saves us customers a little bit each time too.

[chasfm11]

DW's BIL has a service station. He recently put in a furnace that burns used motor oil. It has been working great and he can heat his shop for a fraction of what he used to pay.

I is no surprise to me that recycling isn't working the way that it was intended. No one in the governments (local or Federal) seems to have any business sense. If you will remember a few years back, the problem was that we were filling up the landfills very quickly so recycling was a big deal. Now, you never hear about landfill problems. I don't believe that they just went away.

[Lorna]

So many folks forget the 1st step is REDUCE. This is what we should do FIRST. The next thing is to REUSE. If more folks could repurpose many items destined for the landfill that would go much farther to reducing the waste problem we have. The LAST step is to recycle. This is a place where it has become so expensive to recycle plastics that it isn't feasible. Now many landfills have to pay someone to take the "recyclable" items off their hands.

We used to reuse old used oil (filtered to remove dirt etc) in our chain saws.

[Ray,IN]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Barrier2 I used own a couple of service stations in the 70s, we had an underground tanks that we drained the used oil into. Every couple of months some guy used to come around to the stations and pump the used oil out. He used to pay me for it but I would have been happy just to have it picked up. They used to refine it and sell it. I remember reading that used re-refined oil was actually better then new if it was refined properly. I believe facilities now pay to have the oil removed. What ever happened to that method, I thought as the price went up it would be come economical to refine it again but that does not seem to be the case. Anyone have any knowledge of this? Barrier

I must have been snoozing and missed your post. Better late than never though, here is internet search results for re-cycled motor oil: re-cycled motor oil - Dogpile Web Search
It appears re-refining motor oil is still alive. I remember buying re-refined motor oil to put in my 1948 Chevy. It cost 25 cents a quart in 1957. I'm sure you know oil never wears out,; the additives are depleted and oil is contaminated from blow-by and moisture.

[bitterroot]

Recyclers come to this farming community twice a year and take everyone's junk & contaminates. Although not required, they ask that oils, antifreeze, transmission fluid, & pesticides be separated. Householders bring their stuff in plastic milk cartons & farmers bring hydraulic oil in 55 gallon drums. Where it goes have no idea as long as its off my place. A contaminated well & and poisoned animals is not a good thing.
Wish I could afford a nice "Green Truck".

[Marty too]

Going back further then Ray,In to 1952, I also used re-fine oil in a 1941 Lincoln V-12 that I had. No, it didn’t burn it, just threw it out the rear mains. I’ve always have said that I re-oiled the hiway between Nashville, TN and the then Sewart AFB that was about 23 miles South-East of Nashville. It generally worked out, 2qts in, 2qts around town, 2 qts back to base. Even at .25 cents per qts, at that time, it could be expensive driving. But I loved that old car for other reasons.

Marty

[RustyJC]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ray,IN I'm sure you know oil never wears out,; the additives are depleted and oil is contaminated from blow-by and moisture.

Actually, oil DOES "wear out" as high temperatures result in oxidation and pumping the oil through tight clearances, geartrains, etc. results in shearing of the long chain hydrocarbon molecules in the base stock.

Rusty

[Ray,IN]

I defer to your knowledge Rusty, you are in a position to know, I just repeated what I read somewhere. That sure puts to bed the never-change synthetic oil business then.