Nearly half – 47 percent – of the lubricating oil sold in the United Kingdom and Western Canada is collected for reuse or rerefining, and California is a close second at 43 percent, according to a study conducted for Western Canadas Used Oil Management Association.
Comparing volumes of used oil collected vs. the volume estimated to be collectable (about 62 percent of total lubricating oil sales) the U.K. takes the lead by a whisker at 76 percent. Western Canada is second, collecting 75 percent of all oil deemed to be collectable, and California is third, at 70 percent. Germany and Australia, where two thirds of the collectable oil is collected, tie for fourth place.
The study, UOMA Program Review, was prepared by BearingPoint of Edmonton, Alberta, and involved extensive surveys and interviews with stakeholders of the four Western Canadian provincial used oil management associations and with heads of household in British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba. In addition, BearingPoint benchmarked the Canadian program against 14 other used oil management programs around the world. The surveys were conducted in November and December 2004 and the report was presented June 21 at the joint Annual General Meeting of the four provincial used oil recycling associations in Fort McMurray, Alberta.
The bottom line? Western Canadas industry-led program is a world leader in collecting used oil, used oil filters and used plastic oil containers for recycling.
The benchmarking sections of the report provide an intriguing snapshot of the state of used oil recycling today. Under the Western Canadian used oil management program, to which the others are compared, a network of collection points is established. The program is funded not by a government tax, but by an environmental handling charge of 5 cents per liter remitted by all wholesale suppliers (first sellers) on lubricating products including oils, filters and plastic containers. The handling charge is remitted to the association(s) in the province(s) where the wholesaler does business.
A return incentive is then paid to private-sector collectors and processors to pick up and deliver used oil to government-approved recycling facilities. Any collector or processor properly licensed or permitted by the government is eligible to participate in the program.
Programs benchmarked included U.K., Italy, Spain and Germany in Europe; Australia and South Africa; and U.S. programs in the states of Alabama, California, Florida, Nebraska, South Carolina, Texas and Utah.
There were huge differences in the volumes of lubricating oil sold and collected among the programs. With sales exceeding 1.3 billion liters, Germany sold the most oil; California was second at over 1.1 billion liters. While Florida did not know how much oil was sold, it was the leader in volumes collected, about 585 million liters of used oil, more than 30 million liters more than in Germany. About 307 million liters of new oil are sold annually in Western Canada, and 144 million are collected.
Most programs either rerefine or reuse used oil. The most common way that oil is reused is burning for energy recovery. The study found that programs with high collection rates had low rerefining rates, and vice versa – except the Canadian programs, which had both high collection and high rerefining rates (close to 30 percent). Use in the production of asphalt was a secondary reuse.
Several programs had unique uses (in addition to burning and/or rerefining), including Florida where used oil assists in phosphate extraction. In California it is reprocessed as bunker fuel for ships at sea. In Australia it is reprocessed into mold oil for releasing pressed metal and concrete products from their molds. And in South Africa, used oil is used as a compound in explosives.
Italy and Spain strongly favor rerefining. Italys policy requires that a minimum of 90 percent of used oil collected be rerefined, although in 2003 only 53 percent was. There were six rerefineries in Italy in 2003, with total capacity of about 300 million liters of used oil. Only 120 million liters of used oil were rerefined, leaving a hefty excess capacity of 60 percent.
In California, about 12 percent of used oil collected is rerefined, most by Evergreen, with a capacity of 60 million liters per year. Its excess capacity is estimated to be only about 7 percent.
Texas rerefines about 2.5 million liters of used oil, about 10 percent of the oil collected. When the Texas program began, its goal was similar to Italys: rerefine 90 percent. But the program changed direction because of market demand. Collectors of used oil find it more profitable to sell used oil to other states, such as Wisconsin, where the used oil is reprocessed and burned for energy recovery.
Funding and expenses – all reported in Canadian dollars – differ significantly among the programs. For the 11 programs that charge an environmental handling charge, that fee ranges from a high of 86 cents (Canadian) per liter in the U.K. to 46 cents in Italy to 2 cents in Alabama. The average for North America is 4.5 cents, compared to 45.7 cents for non-North American programs. Many U.S. states charge the fee as a sales tax.
Program costs ranged from a low of $100,000 per year in Alabama to over $30 million per year in Canada. South Africas program spent $6.2 million in 2004; Nebraska spent $200,000. In Texas, the cost of running the program in 2004 was $1.08 million.
How collectors are paid, how used oil is tested, program design and collection logistics are other areas of difference among the programs. For more information, including an 11-page executive summary and the 230-page full report, visit http://www.usedoilrecycling.com/html/about_nuomac_en.htm.