Britain's National Rivers Authority (NRA) reckons as much as two thirds of the 45,000 metric tons/year of waste lubricants resulting from do-it-yourself engine oil changes finds its way into U.K. rivers.
Most waste automotive oil is poured down household drains, says NRA, which generally lead to local rivers or streams. So NRA and oil companies are promoting oil recycling with a network of collection points for waste lubricants.
The U.K. has a long established oil recycling industry. Collection of waste oil and removal of water and dirt so the oil can be resold as boiler fuel earn salvors about $40/metric ton.
While environmental concerns are likely to boost public awareness of recycling, one company sees a market opportunity. It claims to earn $50-100/metric ton for recycled oil, depending on market prices, through a different approach.
DIFFERENT FROM OTHERS
Oikos Ltd., London, was set up 2 years ago initially to source recyclable oil for a Dutch trader. The Dutch firm blends new and recycled oil into industry specification heating fuel for sale on worldwide markets.
"We are different from other oil recycling companies," said Darryl Flukes, managing director of Oikos. "Traditional companies give waste oil a primary treatment and sell it as fuel oil. This is a static market inland with a static price for the oil. Oikos takes the oil and brings it to an international wholesale market at commercial prices by blending it into finished grade fuel oils.
"Alternatively, we reprocess and recover higher value products such as middle distillates and gasoline, which are sold on the open market."
A year ago Oikos bought an oil storage depot on Canvey Island on the River Thames estuary. Here it stores waste lubricants, refinery slops, tank washings, and off-specification and accidentally contaminated cargoes before export for processing. It also stores processed oils ready for sale.
TREATMENT
"The depot was bought to solve our storage problem and give us somewhere to settle out water from cargoes," Flukes said. "A 1 million ($1.5 million) water treatment plant will be our next main investment."
The planned hydrocyclone unit will allow treatment of oils other salvors cannot recover. 'You can't be selective in this business, so we need to be able to deal with heavily contaminated oils."
Flukes said the oil recycling market is growing in respectability. Some lubricants companies are now reprocessing engine oils for retail sale under labeled recycled oil brands.
It may be some time before adding recycled oils to internationally traded fuel blends loses its commercial sensitivity, however.
Flukes was happy to relate how Oikos entered the recycling business from trading origins. But he stopped shy of revealing the name of the Dutch trader parent company.
Copyright 1995 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.