How to Dispose of Oils, Motor, Cooking and Oil Filters.
Table of Contents
What you need
- rigid containers with thick walls
- high strength tape or container with screw on lid
Checklist
- oils must be disposed of in their own containers with no leakage
- do not mix oils with other fluids
- use rigid containers with think walls
- use high strength tape to seal the containers or a container with screw on lids
Sacramento County Regulations (Gotchas)
- Max container size is 5 quarts | 1.25 gallons
- Max three containers per visit
Reasons Oils Need A Separate Disposal Process
The two main reasons are oils need extra care is that it takes 1-20 years to breakdown into a benign state and motor and industrial used oils carry contaminants such as heavy metals and other chemicals that are known to directly and indirectly cause health concerns. This means the poor disposal of oils lead to increase health risks to our community and the natural world we all enjoy.
Environmental Information
- Some studies show that 5-8 quarts of oil(the average used in a car engine) can contaminate 1 million gallons of water.
Oils Breakdown
Oils vary in their *bio-degradability, more highly refined oils such as gasoline, diesel and motor oils break down faster then crude oils.
- 10-30 days: Lighter fractions (e.g., gasoline, diesel) tend to degrade faster than heavier ones (e.g., crude oil).
- 1-2 years: Medium-weight oils (e.g., lubricants, petroleum-based products) start to break down.
- 5-20 years: Heavier oils (e.g., bunker fuel, heavy crude) take much longer to decompose.