Collecting used oil and grease

Waste hydraulic oil and grease should be treated like hazardous waste. This also applies to ecological products. The ecological base oil can still contain additives that are hazardous to the environment. Additionally, through its application the oil may, for instance, have become polluted with metal particles. If waste oil is not properly removed, it may pose a risk to soil and water ecosystems. Therefore, the collection and safe removal must be guaranteed. To ensure this happens properly, all waste oil must be collected by a chemical waste collector.

In European Green Public Procurement documents (on Transport) it is recommended that used oil is collected and processed separately. An additional requirement could be inserted in the clauses of passenger car lease contracts and in the agreements with public transport, refuse collection and other heavy vehicles to the effect that a minimum of 25% rerefined base oil ought to be used on maintenance. To that end, relevant environmental aspects and supposed energy and sustainability gains should be analysed further in a Life Cycle Analysis (LCA). In order to have a system in which re-refined engine oil is used on a large scale, the collection and management of the waste lubricants through authorised waste collection points (e.g. garages, petrol stations, bunker stations etc.) must be guaranteed.