Oil Recycling Why We Should Do It

Texas Allied Petroleum Oil Recycling by Simon Jones.

Oil is made from crude oil, a valuable natural resource that is highly sought after. Oil is also a very serious pollutant so it is absolutely essential that any waste oil from the likes of car or boat engines or oil fired central heating systems for example, is disposed of in the proper manner. Despite awareness campaigns and legislation, many irresponsible people are still pouring waste oil down drains or dumping it on the roadside, which is not only illegal, it will contaminate the earth and water it comes into contact with.

Nearly all oil that is poured down a drain will find its way into rivers, streams and ultimately the sea and have a devastating effect on the environment and wildlife. Similarly if it is poured onto the ground it can find its way into the groundwater beneath.

Why recycle your waste engine oil?

Oil can be recycled and reused which helps preserve the earths natural resources for future generations.Recycling waste oil saves energy and money.

Recycling oil helps protect the ground from pollution. If waste oil enters into the ground it contaminates the soil and kills off bacteria, micro organisms and earthworms, basically everything that is required to regenerate the soil
Even a tiny amount of oil is harmful to water, for example only 1 litre of oil can pollute literally millions of litres of water and kills fish, birds and other creatures. It is also an extremely costly exercise to clean up.

Burning the oil is not the solution either as burning oil causes air pollution and is of course illegal too without the proper facilities and authorizations.

When you have waste oil, store the oil in sealed containers and dont mix it with any other substances like paint or solvents as this can cause problems and make it very difficult to recycle. Storing it in containers also helps prevent accidental spillage. If you do accidentally spill oil, absorb smaller spillages with sand or another absorbent material like sawdust and dispose of the solid waste in an oil bank. Do not hose spilled oil away with water. For larger spills, contact the environmental agency or your local environmental health department immediately.

Where can you recycle your waste oil?

The Environmental Agency has established an oil care campaign to promote environmentally friendly disposal of waste oil, which basically means recycling it. Waste engine oil can be recycled in any of the oil banks situated across the country.

What happens to recycled oil?

When waste oil is taken for recycling, it is emptied into tanks and processed to filter out any unwanted elements or particles. The oil can then be reused in power stations, furnaces, boilers, cement and lime kilns and heaters as an alternative source of fuel. It might also be laundered, which means it is cleaned up and sent back to the supplier for reusing, or it can be refined to produce new oil.

What about cooking oil?

Oil banks are not for used cooking oil. Large amounts of used cooking oil from factories, restaurants and food outlets can be recycled so contact your local authority for details on what facilities are available for disposing of waste cooking oil in your area. Recycled cooking oil can be refined and used to make detergents or converted into bio fuels and some organisations will collect the waste free of charge or will buy it from you.

At home, small amounts of cooking oil can be disposed of along with household rubbish but make sure it is cooled first. It is important not to dispose of used cooking oil down the sink as it can cause problems and blockages when it solidifies. Some local authorities have facilities for collecting and recycling used cooking oil from domestic sources, contact your local authority to find out if this applies in your area.

Our duty

Under The Environmental Protection Act 1990, there is a Duty of Care placed on all industry producers of waste oil to ensure that all reasonable steps are taken to look after any waste generated and prevent its illegal disposal by others. On an individual basis, we all have a moral as well as a legal obligation to protect the earth and our environment from unnecessary contamination of any kind and as such, it is vital that we dispose of our oil in an environmentally friendly way.

Wash Day Harms the Environment

Wash Day from Texas Allied Petroleum author: Janelle Elizabeth.
We are all becoming more and more aware of the damage we are causing the environment by everyday activities like doing the laundry. The list of potentially harmful chemicals that are contained in laundry detergents is alarming to say the least.

The world of complex ingredients lists and vague labels leave consumers unable to identify potential harmful products, and laundry detergents are no exception.

Specifically, there are certain toxins present in laundry detergents that take particular aim at the environment. Linear alkyl sodium sulfonates (LAS) are more commonly listed as ‘anionic surfactants’ on detergent labels. They are one of the more common surfactants found in laundry detergents. They are a synthetic product.

As they are manufactured, cancer causing or carcinogenic toxins, as well as reproductive toxins are released into the environment. Benzene is one such toxin, and if this were not detrimental enough, these also biodegrade very slowly.

Another harmful chemical that is frequently found in laundry detergents are phosphates. Needed to remove minerals found in hard-water, and as method to prevent dirt settling back onto clothes while they are in the machine. Basically they are needed to make the laundry detergent more effective.

However, their negative impact on the environment is monumental. After their release into the environment, they can actually activate growth in marine plants. This can result in unbalanced ecosystems, forcing a lot of environmental changes that are not positive.

A lot of states have banned or limited the use of phosphates because of the problems they have been proven to cause. Some detergents even advertise their low or nonexistent phosphate level.

To put it succinctly, our environment needs us to start using safer alternatives. Laundry detergents that contain these harmful products need to be altered or perhaps a new method of washing clothes can be implemented.

Since much of these products do not openly delineate the kind of harmful ingredients it uses, it may be difficult for the consumer to know just how detrimental they are to them and the environment.

Avoiding such products that contain anionic surfactants or linear alkyl sodium sulfonates, and phosphates is a move in the right direction.

Quality alternatives are now here for those of us who are willing to step away from the old-fashioned way of washing clothes, and embrace newer, environmentally friendly methods. The cause for concern with laundry detergents and other chemically driven products like it is real, but becoming informed of the hazards can aid in making a change for the better.

The Benefits of Recycling

The Texas Allied Petroleum Benefits by Michael Russell.

Recycling is a priority in the United States. In fact, the United States recycles more than 24 percent of its waste. This is the highest percentage in the industrialized world. This is only appropriate considering the United States also produces the most amount of waste in the industrialized world. Recycling can bring out about economic and environmental benefits.

The recycling industry has made a vital contribution to job creation and economic development in the United States. In 2000, the recycling industry was responsible for more than 1.1 million jobs and a yearly payroll of $37 billion. For every 10,000 tons of waste that is recycled, 36 new jobs are created. If you were to incinerate the 10,000 tons of waste instead, only one job would be created. In addition, for every employee there is collecting items that can be recycled, there are 26 employees that turn these items into new products. There are as many employees in the recycling industry as there are in the automobile and truck manufacturing industry. Also recycling industry employees make more money than employees in other industries.

Recycling helps prevent global climate changes by reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Greenhouse gas emissions can result from the manufacturing, use and disposal of products. Greenhouse gas emissions are a part of nature and they help create climates that sustain life on earth. If greenhouse gas emissions reach dangerous concentration levels, then you might see rising global temperatures, sea level changes and other climate changes. Recycling can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions in the following ways:

Manufacturing paper, plastics, glass and metal from recycled materials requires less energy than manufacturing these products from virgin materials because the recycled materials have already been processed. Also if you were to use virgin materials, you would have to spend additional energy extracting and transporting the virgin materials. For example, recycling aluminum cans saves 95 percent of the energy required to make new aluminum from virgin materials. Recycling steel and plastics would require 60 percent and 70 percent less energy, respectively, than making these products from raw materials. Recycling nearly any material will require less energy than producing the material from virgin materials. In 2005, recycling saved over 900 trillion BTUs, which is the same amount of energy used in 9 million households annually. This energy conservation results in less fossil fuels being burned. This means that less carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, is released into the atmosphere. If 6 tons of glass and one ton of aluminum were recycled, then 1 ton and 13 tons of carbon dioxide, respectively, would not be released into the atmosphere.

Recycling also keeps materials out of landfills. This is important because materials in landfills can decompose and release methane gas. Methane gas is a greenhouse gas that is 20 to 30 times more dangerous to the environment than carbon dioxide. Municipal solid waste landfills are responsible for 34 percent of methane gas emissions attributed to Americans.

Waste combustion from incinerators can release greenhouse gas emissions into the atmosphere. Recycling can reduce these emissions by keeping materials out of incinerators. In 2003, recycling kept 72 million tons of material from incinerators and landfills.