What are the factors in determining a reliable oil collection infrastructure?
Lubricating oils are highly refined and manufactured to exacting specifications. They are the most expensive and valuable product refined from a barrel of crude. In fact, in a 42-gallon barrel of crude, only ½ gallon of lubricants are recovered. After having performed their function, traditional lube oil manufactures have been content to see the used oil collected and reused as a burning fuel, thus not placing base oil back into the market to compete with their new oils. What the recycling industry has long advocated is that once “cleaned” through re-refining, the used oil can be reformulated back into a lubricating oil. So that the highest and best use of re-refined oil is to place it back into the market as a lubricant. Unfortunately, used oil refineries have a hard time competing with virgin manufactures because of small quantities of supply, transportation, collection, public acceptance of using “re-cycled” oil, and an affordable technology. Added to this is the fact that used oil
