Trends in On-Site Oil Recycling

In the past, it was far too common for used motor oil to find its way into the waste stream, either by ending up in landfills or being dumped carelessly on the ground or buried. Thankfully, those days are largely behind us. There are many programs available that encourage responsible disposal of used oil and oil filters, and businesses that specialize in changing oil for consumers do so as a matter of course.

But what if you're a fleet dealing with tens or hundreds of vehicles? The volume of used oil is substantial and it can seem a waste not to re-use what's becoming an increasingly expensive and precious resource. A solution is being addressed aggressively by Clean Burn, Inc. with its line of furnaces and other systems designed to operate on used oil. This is becoming an increasingly popular option for companies considering there are now 80,000 functioning Clean Burn furnaces and boilers located throughout the world, and these are burning some 120 million gallons of used oil each year on-site, at the point of generation. This volume of used oil would otherwise be transported on highways and require additional petroleum to power the vehicles carrying it.

A quick case study is provided by Vermont-based Markowski Excavating, where more than 60,000 gallons of used oil have been recycled using a Clean Burn unit over the past 12 years. The company's large volume used oil furnace has paid for itself five times over since it was installed by recycling motor oil from a fleet of excavators, trucks, and bulldozers. Rather than paying thousands of dollars to transport its used oil, the company uses its Clean Burn unit to serve heating needs instead.

In Ohio, Dick Lavy Trucking operates a fleet of more than 200 vehicles throughout the eastern half of the United States, providing trailer pools and long distance shipping. The company says that one of the essential aspects keeping its trucks on the road is constant maintenance. This results in thousands of gallons of used motor oil each year that the trucking firm recycles with two Clean Burn furnaces, providing free heat to its maintenance shop rather than adding this used oil to the waste stream.

Clean Burn's three types of used oil furnaces fit varying needs. Beyond these environmentally efficient heaters, the company offers a line of Used Oil Coil Tube Boilers that recycle used oil into hot water technology for use in car washes, baseboard and in-floor heating, and ice melt applications. A self-contained Used Oil Recycling Center - essentially an on-site recycling and heating system - also allows businesses to store and burn used oil conveniently and efficiently.