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©2005 - 2007 Tsunami Fishing Systems

  
What Really Happens to Recycled Oil?

We recently received an e-mail from Gary Fooks of the Eco-Friendly Fishing Association of Australia. Gary is an astute student of EPA test data, and he noted that even though BRP's E-TEC motors are rated as "3 Stars" (currently the California Air Resources Board's cleanest rating), they were still typically a bit higher in hydrocarbon pollution than most 4-strokes.

Evinrude's advertising points out that since E-TECs burn everything, all oil is accounted for in the engine's EPA pollution tests. This is unlike 4-stroke outboards, where the dirty fluids and filter from an oil change (hopefully) go to a recycle facility. From there, its fate is unknown.

The implication, of course, is that not all of the oil from 4-stroke engines is recycled, and therefore could impact the environment. But does it?

Gary's e-mail prompted us to do some research into the fate of recycled oil. When we were done, we had collected a number of disturbing facts. Well, at least they were disturbing to us.

The statistics below were provided by Miro Kefurt, President of Synlube, a producer of high quality synthetic motor oils. Kefurt compiled his data from information published in 2004 by the American Petroleum Institute (API), and published it on Synlube's website. Synlube's website is referenced by the California Integrated Waste Management Board, so at this point we're taking the information at face value.

Key points:

  • Only about 55% of the recyclable motor oil in the US is turned in for recycling. The rest gets thrown away. In other countries the number is much higher. For example, the Australian equivalent of the US EPA estimates that they recover over 80% of the recyclable oil. But no country is close to 100%.
  • Of the oil turned in for recycling in the US:

    1% is recycled back into lubrication oil

    2% is lost to leaks, evaporation, etc. during processing
    18% is recycled into products other than oil, or used in products such as asphalt.

    33% is "legally disposed of" - which includes sending it to hazardous waste dumps, or using it for some other legal purpose. In the state of California, for example, much of the recycled oil is sprayed along state highways as a weedkiller! In a strange "Catch-22" situation, it is apparently legal for the State to use recycled oil in this manner, but not counties and cities...

    46% is converted to bunker oil, and burned in powerplants or used for home heating

Geeze...we always had the impression that the majority of recycled motor oil was re-refined and turned back into motor oil that was sold or used somewhere. Once we thought about it, though, we don't recall ever seeing recycled oil available for sale anywhere.

There is a reason for this, according to Kefurt. Even though it takes less energy to convert recycled oil back into lubrication stocks than it takes to refine motor oil from a barrel of crude, the fact of the matter is that lubricant base stocks are created as a byproduct of gasoline and diesel refining. As long as we produce gasoline or diesel, we get oil base stocks, esentially at "no cost". There is no economic incentive for oil companies to recycle oil under these conditions.

In addition, recycled oil has the stigma of somehow not being as good as original oil. While some companies offered recycled oil for sale in the 90s, the products have pretty much all disappeared.

What Does This Mean to OSJ Readers?
  • If you have a 4-stroke motor, be sure you recycle your oil (and the filter, too)!. Of course, in some states it's law. But even if it's not, please do it. Every little bit helps

  • Even if you won't use motor oil made from recycled oil in your outboard or car, try it in your lawnmower, leafblower, or other motor (if you can find it).

  • While 3-star DFI 2-strokes like E-TECs and Optimaxes produce slightly more HC pollution than the cleanest 4-strokes while operating, "recycled" 4-stroke oil has it's own environmental impacts. Based on the above information, it seems to us that recycling 4-stroke motor oil has the same or bigger impacts on the environment than the exhaust of DFI 2-stroke outboards.

  • In the end, the problem is the same: petroleum-based internal combustion engines have issues, no matter what technology is used. Ultimately, we need to find different ways to power our boats.