Here is a subject not well known about, long before it became widespread practice to recycle paper, plastics and other waste stream commodities, oil out of used car engines was recycled to recover its innate heating value. Even though it’s dirty and exhausted of lubricity, a gallon of used oil contains 140,000 BTUs of energy, approximately the same heating value of a new gallon of oil.

Used oil is a broad category that includes mixes of crankcase oils, transmission and hydraulic fluids, and industrial oils of many grades and qualities. EPA defines used oil as any oil refined from crude or synthetic that has been used and thereby contaminated by physical or chemical impurities. It’s not publicly traded as a commodity. Most transactions are private and most people involved in the business are reluctant to talk about price or the volume distributed. Therefore, there is scant and conflicting data on this sector.

Getting fluids out of vehicles used for scrap has also become faster and more efficient. In the past scrap yards extracted fluids manually, often assisted by homemade Rube Goldberg contraptions of lifts, funnels, hoses and tanks. Currently there are several manufacturers of self-contained fluid removal systems. One such is Enviro-Rack, made by Iron Ax, that meets EPA and state level regulations for fluid removal. By using air operation it avoids the sparking dangers posed by electric motors or gasoline engines and sucks a vehicle dry in less than five minutes. The system has a catch pan underneath to prevent ground contamination.

It is nice to know that recycling yards are working hard to be environmentally safe with waste oils and related products. Hopefully it will become a standard operating procedure for all junk yards and recycling yards. GotEngines.com voluntarily has been involved in engine oil recycling before it was fashionable. When it comes down to buying car engines, buy from the leader in replacement engines and environmental safety. Call us @ 1-888-344-8044.