[72projectbird]

It came outta the ground, so back in it goes.

[tigergto]

In my much younger days, I used to dump it into storm sewers. Never thought anything of it. Now I take it to a local garage that uses it for heating during the winter. I think NYS has a law that if you sell motor oil u have to take used oil.

[Verdoro 68]

My dad grew up on a farm and they pretty much buried or burned all their trash and waste.

I used to take my oil to the parts store, but now they have a really handy household hazardous recycling center where you can drop off pretty much anything you can't throw in the trash like cleaners, paint, oil and other chemicals.

Another reminder of how times have changed...from the '68 owners manual about carting your kids and babies around. "If a child must stand, he should stand on the floor directly behind the front seat."

[Region Warrior]

If one of us kids where in front seat, had to wear a belt. Back seat no.

I joined volunteer fire dept at age 18-19.
After 3rd extrication in 1st month of service, wore a belt ever since.

[David Jones]

I’ve always changed my own oil. Early on I poured the old oil down a hole beside a retaining wall. Never thought a thing about it. Gallons and gallons.......

[64speed]

Local recycling center are assholes about it so I just pour it in with the kitty litter bag and throw it away

[400 4spd.]

We do lots of oil changes, so I collect it in 5 gallon cooking oil containers that I get free from a local restaurant. I give those motor oil filled containers to a neighboring fork lift business for burning in a waste oil heater during cold weather months. In return, the owner supplies me with all of the crushed ice that my shop needs during the summer months.He processes 500 lbs. per day. I keep him warm, he keeps us cool.

[Lemans64]

I worked for a very small, ( one bay) garage with pumps, and ya we dumped the used oil over the bank. Also cleaned parts with
gas and dumped that over the bank as well when it got dirty. Don't think there is any houses down there still, 40 years later.
Now we get checked every once in a while to see what we are doing with it and to make sure we have a spill kit for emergency.

[pont3]

Originally Posted by dataway

Well ... the oil did come out of the ground in the first place.

Imagine that!

[The Champ]

Originally Posted by 64speed

Local recycling center are assholes about it so I just pour it in with the kitty litter bag and throw it away

You do realize that you don't have to bring it to a recycling center, don't you?

Any repair shop (including new car dealers) that does oil changes has to accept your used oil.

We're laughing about how we USED to do it in the "old" days, but there is no excuse for disposing of waste oil in residential trash today when it is so easy to dispose of it responsibly.

FWIW - I've taken my drain oil to local recycling centers, local repair shops and new car dealers without having to deal with assholes.

[dataway]

I generate about five gallons of waste oil a month ... with the drop in oil prices I've notice places making it more and more of a pain to dispose of ... more places requiring you to sign in with name and address, stricter rules about how much you can bring etc.

I notice they don't limit how much you can BUY at one time. My local Walmart used to be easy ... I'd wave to the guy and walk up to the tank and dump it in ... now it's locked and I have to sign in and someone has to unlock it. Tractor Supply I have to wait ten minutes for someone to escort me into the back to sign in and open the tank.

Heck one of my tractors takes 15 gallons of Hydro oil. Some of the place I go to I'd have to make three trips on different days to dump it all.

[The Champ]

I just take the jugs out of my vehicle and set them inside. Easy peesy... This is at both a new car dealership or a local repair shop.

[Ben M.]

While they're supposed to take used oil, every time I had to dispose of used oil it ended up being "our tanks are full, go away." Today at the local Autozone they let me dump my used oil (5 gallons) in the back tank by myself. Lazy employees or they trusted me...

[59safaricat]

Originally Posted by dataway

more places requiring you to sign in with name and address, stricter rules about how much you can bring etc..

Standard operating procedure in my area for almost 30 years now.

[dataway]

I'm a huge fan of recycling, but unless they make it VERY user friendly they will get little participation. Fundamentally the recycling needs to be as easy as the purchase, that is the only way it's really going to work well.

If it was easy enough to recycle ... I'd be ok with a "deposit" on oil, a set price the collectors will get for a gallon of recycled oil.

[TAKerry]

Our county recycling center has a large tank, dump oil for free. Antifreeze and stuff in separate containers piled in a building. Never any problems. There are also a couple of shops in my area that burn used oil for heating. They take all that they can get.

[The Champ]

Originally Posted by dataway

I'm a huge fan of recycling, but unless they make it VERY user friendly they will get little participation. Fundamentally the recycling needs to be as easy as the purchase, that is the only way it's really going to work well.

If it was easy enough to recycle ... I'd be ok with a "deposit" on oil, a set price the collectors will get for a gallon of recycled oil.

It's supposed to be easy.

In NY, this is the policy as established by the NY Department of Environmental Conservation:

Accepting Used Oil
♦ Service establishments that sell at least 500 gallons per year of new oil and perform
vehicle servicing must accept from the public, at no charge, up to 5 gallons of used oil per
person per day.
♦ Retail establishments that sell at least 1,000 gallons per year of new oil must either accept
used oil from the public, as service establishments do, or contract to have another service
or retail establishment accept it on their behalf.
♦ Post a sign stating: "WE ACCEPT USED OIL FOR RECYCLING AT NO CHARGE."
♦ Retail establishments that arrange to have another entity accept used oil on their behalf
must post a sign stating the name and address of the contracted establishment.
♦ Remember: When you change motor oil for customers, it is against the law to charge them
a fee for used oil disposal.

Print out a copy and hand it to the person if they try and give you a hard time:

https://www.dec.ny.gov/docs/material.../usedoilqg.pdf

For those of us not in NY, here is the link to the EPA directions that specifically state that you can bring it to "your nearest public used oil collection center, such as a service station or lube center". (item #9 on the page 2)

I've never had an issue doing this in MN or WI. It's free, it's easy and it's the right thing to do.

[mgarblik]

Originally Posted by 400 4spd.

We do lots of oil changes, so I collect it in 5 gallon cooking oil containers that I get free from a local restaurant. I give those motor oil filled containers to a neighboring fork lift business for burning in a waste oil heater during cold weather months. In return, the owner supplies me with all of the crushed ice that my shop needs during the summer months.He processes 500 lbs. per day. I keep him warm, he keeps us cool.

That's a great way to get rid of the old oil and use it to make heat almost for free for the fork lift company. I collect my used oil in a 55 gallon drum. (about 3-4) a year. Getting rid of it through a waste oil collection company varies widely depending on the price of oil. For the last 2 years, they come and pick it up for free. I have been paid as much as $50.00 a barrel for it in the past and have paid as much as $40.00 a barrel to have it hauled away. In every case, at least it is being hauled off by a company that is supposed to be responsible with the waste.

[dataway]

Living in rural'ish NY I have never seen a sign that said a place takes used oil ... I'm sure it's there somewhere, but probably tiny. The nearest place to me that will take oil is 15 miles away. The town facility where I take my other recycling will not accept oil, nether does the county facility.

One hydraulic oil change on my tractor takes three trips to Walmart, or Tractor supply ... and I buy the oil at Tractor supply 15 gallons at a time. Luckily the other tractor only takes five gallons. And ... places that burn waste motor oil will not take Hydraulic oil.

I guess my issue is that it take me 10 minutes to BUY 15 gallons of oil, it takes me 45 minutes to get rid of it. If the government is serious about making the regulations, then get serious about the solution, there should be strategically placed recycling centers that take oil, anti-freeze, paint, solvents etc. in easy reach of the population.

It's kind of backwards, in urban areas there are plenty of places to get rid of oil, but in urban areas there is a smaller percentage people changing their own oil ... out here in the country every other person changes their own oil and and tons of agricultural equipment gets service but it's more difficult to find a place to take the oil.

Think about it ... I can walk out of a tractor dealership, or a Tractor supply with three five gallon jugs of oil ... but if I want to recycle that same amount I will have to come back three different days.

I know what the governments solution will start with ... illegal to change your own oil, people will HAVE to go to a certified facility to have their oil changed to ensure the hazardous used oil is properly disposed of.

[Sirrotica]

Originally Posted by dataway

Living in rural'ish NY I have never seen a sign that said a place takes used oil ... I'm sure it's there somewhere, but probably tiny. The nearest place to me that will take oil is 15 miles away. The town facility where I take my other recycling will not accept oil, nether does the county facility.

One hydraulic oil change on my tractor takes three trips to Walmart, or Tractor supply ... and I buy the oil at Tractor supply 15 gallons at a time. Luckily the other tractor only takes five gallons. And ... places that burn waste motor oil will not take Hydraulic oil.

I guess my issue is that it take me 10 minutes to BUY 15 gallons of oil, it takes me 45 minutes to get rid of it. If the government is serious about making the regulations, then get serious about the solution, there should be strategically placed recycling centers that take oil, anti-freeze, paint, solvents etc. in easy reach of the population.

It's kind of backwards, in urban areas there are plenty of places to get rid of oil, but in urban areas there is a smaller percentage people changing their own oil ... out here in the country every other person changes their own oil and and tons of agricultural equipment gets service but it's more difficult to find a place to take the oil.

Think about it ... I can walk out of a tractor dealership, or a Tractor supply with three five gallon jugs of oil ... but if I want to recycle that same amount I will have to come back three different days.

I know what the governments solution will start with ... illegal to change your own oil, people will HAVE to go to a certified facility to have their oil changed to ensure the hazardous used oil is properly disposed of.

Yet again another reason to have by pass oil filtering, you don't have hazardous waste to get rid of every 6 months to a year. Multiply that by how many vehicles, and pieces of equipment you own and it can add up quickly.

Not only are you having a problem getting rid of oil that is just dirty, but is otherwise perfectly suitable if it were filtered properly. You have to keep flushing the crankcase with rather expensive new oil to keep the contaminants from getting too dense, and abrading the inner wear surfaces of engines and pumps.

I know,

"I've been doing it like this for years, and I'm going to keep doing it the same way in the future".