Of the waste automotive lubricants generated in Turkey in 2021, just 11% was collected for further use, according to a report by a national oil association.
In its recently published annual waste oil management report, petroleum association Petder said the country generated 165,000 metric tons of waste automotive lubricants that year and that 18,536 tons were collected for recycling.. In 2020 the country generated 141,000 tons of used automotive lubes and collected 19,469 tons, or 14%.
The Istanbul-based association is the only licensed waste oil collector in the country.
The association said collected oil is handled three ways in Turkey. The cleanest alternative, it said, is to send it to a local rerefinery where it is processed into base oils and other products. Some oil is instead burned or disposed of.
“In accordance with the Regulation on the Control of Waste Oils adopted in 2004 and through its activities for waste motor oil collection, Petder made a total of 237,388 trips to 18,590 waste oil collection points in 81 cities around the country since 2004,” the association said in its report. During that span it collected 298,181 tons of waste oil.
With the adoption of two other landmark policies in 2019 – the Zero Waste and the Waste Oil Management regulations – Turkey made progress in the management and treatment of the waste oil, moving closer to recycling achievements of the European Union. The country has been a candidate for membership in the EU since 1999.
Used oil collection volumes peaked in 2018 when the association collected 22,146 tons. The level dropped in the following year to 20,946 tons.
In 2021, 10,581 tons of waste motor oil were collected from car care services, 2,697 tons were collected from state institutions and 5,258 tons from other generators, the association found.
The greatest share of oil collected in 2021 – a 8,471 tons – came from the Marmara region, while 2,680 was collected in the Aegean region, 2,422 tons from Central Anatolia, 1,434 tons from the Black Sea region, 594 tons from Southeastern Anatolia and 597 tons from Eastern Anatolia.
With capacity to process 60,000 t/y of waste oil, Tayras is the only rerefinery in Turkey. It commenced operation in May 2021. The facility is located about 180 kilometers southeast of Istanbul and can produce up to 42,000 t/y of API Group II base oil.