The Soviet Union collapsed more than two decades ago, but since that time no new regulations for used oil handling have been introduced in Russia. Compared to the European Union, which has taken numerous steps to encourage recycling of used lubricants, Russia seems backward in the prevention of pollution from hazardous materials.

Unlike fuels, which are 90 to 99 percent consumed during combustion, most lubricants are left over after use. As a result, lubricants have a life cycle that extends from cradle to grave, meaning that someone must finally dispose of them. Rerefining technology brings that cycle full circle, so that it is more accurately described as cradle to cradle, giving new life to used materials.

Russia Slow to Move

Systematic preservation of the environment, in particular legislation that mandates elaborate handling of used oil, has for decades been taboo for the Russian government and the Kremlin powerhouse. That disposition may be changing, finally, thanks to the efforts by the private sector. A group of Moscow-based companies, including rerefiner Rosa-1, LLK-International (the lubricant arm of Russian oil major Lukoil) and the Association of Waste Recycling, undertook a lobbying effort the past few years that convinced the public and government bodies to mandate treatment of waste oil. Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan, three ex-Soviet states that have shared a common economic association since 2010, will enforce the regulation beginning 1 March 2014.

Rosa-1 is the only company in Russia that has established its own used oil collection channels and a rerefinery to produce API Group I mineral base oils and commercial lubes. A number of other entities collect waste oil but sell or use it as a fuel for heating or power stations. In Russia today, one can hardly find any ecologically based technology [to treat] used oils [that are] unrelated to the combustion processes, Oleg Cherednichenko, the associations president and founder of Rosa-1 told LubesnGreases. His company estimates that about 70,000 tons of used oil were processed in Russia in 2011. Of these, 40,000 tons were processed by Rosa-1s rerefinery, which is located in Ryazan.

Rosa-1 employs more than 200 people, and it uses an extensive network to collect and transport waste oils. Its collection, temporary storage and delivery organizations are based in St. Petersburg, Vologda, Moscow, Ryazan, Samara, Volgograd, Yekaterinburg and Novokuznetsk.

The company was founded in 2004 with a goal of establishing a nationwide system to collect used oil. At the beginning of these efforts, it was able to collect 12,000 tons of used oils annually. At the moment, we are collecting around 30,000 tons of used oil annually, Cherednichenko said. The capacity of our rerefinery is 40,000 t/y of used oil; however, this is [a small] number compared to the much bigger volume of total waste oil generated in the country. But we are the only rerefiner in Russia that can produce base oils from waste lubes. Base stocks manufactured at the plant are used to produce commercial oils for industrial use such as hydraulic fluids, heat-transfer fluids or plasticizing oils, as well as emulsifiers and coolants; total output is 24,000 t/y.

We are supplying base oils to other Russian lubricants and coolants producers, Cherednichenko said. However there are lot of stereotypes in this country, and rerefined base oils are not an exception. Besides the fact that some rerefined base oils show better chemical and technical characteristics, there are a lot of prejudices in the lubricants market in Russia today.

The Rosa-1 plant has a vacuum distillation unit capable of rerefining used oil into narrow oil fractions. This technology allows us to fulfill two main tasks of our program for environmental protection – to utilize the waste oils and to achieve clean base oil with acceptable quality, he said.

Viscosity index of the finished product at the Ryazan rerefinery is in the mid to high level, according to Leshek Stankovsky, the plants chief technologist. Viscosity index of the regenerated [base] oil and oils produced in secondary processing is around 100, which is higher than [that of] the virgin products from Group I base oil, he said. He added that the Ryazan rerefined base oils have higher sulfur content than virgin mineral base oils and that they have better oxidative stability than virgin mineral base oil. Ryazan base oils with viscosity index of 100 have a pour point of minus 35 degrees C, while those with VI of 110 have a pour point of minus 45 C, according to Stankovsky.

Hope for the Future

Only about 6 percent of the countrys 1.1 million tons of disposed oil are rerefined. Twenty five percent of the 1.1 million tons of generated waste oil are used as components for [that is, mixed with] lubricants and coolants, or as roofing, road, and emulsion cover materials. Without proper cleaning and filtering, these products can be very dangerous for the environment, Cherdnechenko said.

Rosa-1s findings about the remainder of the used oil generated in Russia is sobering. Of the 1.1 million tons of used oil generated, 40 percent is collected and used as fuel in the heating or power units, and 31 percent is just discharged into waterways or landfills.

The upcoming waste oil treatment regulation requires establishment of used oil collection points in big cities and in the provinces, and creation of storage facilities. It also specifies primary reception points such as auto service stations, railway facilities or metallurgical complexes. In addition, there are ongoing talks about establishing an index of waste oil products for which treatment and recycling will be obligatory.

The regulation also penalizes offenders for draining used oil into waterways, delivering it to landfills or mixing it with haloidorganic materials. It forbids mixing used oil with fresh oil and other finished products such as black oil or diesel fuel, or burning it in power generation units.

Russia, Belarus and Kazakhstan had previously prohibited disposal in waterways and landfills, along with mixing oil with haloidorganic materials. But rulemaking to end the mixing of waste oil with other finished products or using it as a fuel is a totally new concept thats coming to life in the Russian legislature, Cherednichenko said. He added that the recent regulation gives a completely new economic rationale for utilizing waste oil.

Creating Incentives

The association, LLK and Rosa-1 are pressuring the government to subsidize all companies that treat waste oil as a feedstock. Virgin base oils are abundant in Russia and competitively priced in the marketplace; therefore, rerefining can be a very unprofitable venture. Subsidies can help rerefiners to develop their business, Cherdnichenko said.

LLK encountered the strict E.U. regulations for used oil treatment in Romania, one of the countries where it operates a lubricant production facility and where it markets its products. The company has already rerefined 500 tons of used oil and this year expects to collect and process 2,000 tons of waste oil. Under current Romanian legislation, 80 percent of lubricants in circulation are subject to collection and subsequent regeneration.

A large part of Russias used oil comes from industry as transformer or industrial oils. A few companies collected such oils and processed them by a mechanical method of filtration and dewatering, Cherednichenko said. It is not a [highly technical] processing technology, and these products are used as low-quality industrial oils.