“This is the first rerefining plant for Heartland, so its a big step,” Bill Snedegar, Heartland’s CEO and president, told Lube Report. Its unusual because there are not many rerefiners in the U.S., and thats primarily because of capital costs.

Using hydrotreating to refine the used oil, Heartland will sell the base oil to a large oil distributor who is also a lubricant blender, Snedegar said. The distributor will market the finished lubricants – primarily 10motoroils – throughout the Midwest and the East Coast.

Last week Heartland announced that it received its permit to install from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency. Beforethe companycan openits facility, the EPA ratesthe facility based onits equipment and emissions, said Snedegar. He also explained that the plant is a skid-mounted facility, which means that it was built off-site and shipped to the permanent site.

When it opens, the facility expects to employ 25 to 30 employees.

Founded in 1950 in Columbus, Ohio, Heartland Petroleum is a family-owned and operated provider of used oil disposal, wastewater treatment and oil-water separator services. The company owns fuel terminals and plants in Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia.

What weve been trying to do for over half a century is recycle and follow the green initiative, Snedegar said. That way the oil can be used over and over again.

According to the National Petrochemical and Refiners Association, there are just fourrerefineriesthat produce hydrotreated base oils in North America. These areEvergreen Oil in Newark, Calif., with a capacity of 800b/d of Group II, Newalta Corp. in North Vancouver, B.C., with a capacity of 500 b/d of Group I; and Safety-Kleen’s plants in East Chicago, Ind.,and Ontario, Canada,with capacities of 3,500 and 1,500b/d of Group I, respectively.