About 120 to 140 million litres of used oil is generated in South Africa annually. This represents about 50% of the new lubricating oil sold in South Africa. The recovery rate by all collectors in South Africa is approximately 70%.

Used lubricating oil is unpleasant stuff – a brew of degraded hydrocarbons (such as benzene, xylene & toluene) heavy metals and spent chemical additives – containing many environmentally harmful components such as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), some of which are carcinogenic.

These components damage the environment in several ways: it tends to accumulate in soil and water as toxic gases and harmful metallic dust particles.

The best method of dealing with it, according to environmentalists, is to recycle it. Several treatment and disposal processes are available for used lubricating oil, ranging from kiln combustion, use in explosives and re-refining back to base oil. However each process has environmental impacts.

The reprocessing of used oil into fuel is commercially attractive in South Africa, since the reprocessed product is a substitute for heavy fuel oil derived from crude oil. The collection of used oil is lucrative and provides employment to many previously disadvantaged individuals.

The model used in South Africa promotes free enterprise and incentivises used oil collections rather than subsidising operations. It operates free of any Government levies and is lauded globally for its selfregulation by the Lubricants Industry in South Africa.

“Recycling Oil – It’s Easier Than You Think”

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