If there were not enough environmental reasons to resell or reuse oil already, there's absolutely no reason you should not be reclaiming your oil." That is advice from Tom Hobson, owner and president of Cleveland-area oil skimmer manufacturer Abanaki Corp. "The oil you can recycle from your own plant can be reused in an industrial heater or an authorized recycler will buy it from you."

As manufacturers look for every cost advantage they can find in a sluggish economy, many plants are looking at ways to recycle waste oil for heat, or for resale to an authorized recycler. According to Hobson, plants are starting to recognize the financial advantages in turning waste oil into profit, and this is driving sales for oil skimmers that can collect up to 200 gallons per hour of oil or grease from wastewater. According to Hobson, The oil skimmed from wastewater, when burnt in a proper furnace, can deliver a higher BTU value than new oil.

Burn it, or recycle it

Since used oil usually has a thicker viscosity, it possesses more BTU value than No. 2 fuel oil and more than twice the energy value of LP gas or coal. Waste oils that can be burned for heat include almost any oil up to the Society of Automotive Engineers' motor-oil viscosity rating of 50 (the society's second-thickest grade). This grade includes metal-cutting oils, lube oil, crankcase oil, transmission and hydraulic fluid, No. 1 and No. 2 diesel fuel, and vegetable oils and grease.

The process of a plant burning its own used oil gets good marks from the EPA, which supports the burning of used oil on site because it prevents oil from entering the watershed, and reduces or eliminates the risk of transportation spills.

Burning recovered oil is not the only option; companies can also sell their waste oil to authorized recyclers. "It comes down to this: one, you can sell the clean, dry used oil or, two, you can recycle it," said David Charlton, CEO of Akron-based recycler Rice Environmental Services, which is part of the National Oil Recyclers Association. "It not just about reusing and recycling. It's about rethinking how things are done. It's the higher goal of sustainability."

Whether waste oil is used for heating the plant, reselling or on-site recycling, it is a resource, according to Hobson. "If a plant has oil it's not doing anything with," he said, "the oil may get discharged unintentionally in the plant. That's a regulatory fine right there. Considering the alternative of reusing or reselling, the fine is a double-whammy. So why not profit from it?"

Hobson believes more plant managers will look to recycling or reselling waste oil to help the bottom line. Only two years ago, a survey sponsored by his company showed 78 percent of respondents were searching for ways to cut plant costs. Thirty-five percent said they would consider burning waste oils. Only 8 percent said that their plants already burned waste oil for heat.

"Times are even tougher now," said Hobson. "Plant managers should not let the money hidden in their wastewater go to waste." PE