There is a lot of potential waste when changing motor oil, and also many ways to recycle and minimise waste and pollution.

Are Oil Filters Recyclable?

Yes, filters are metallic and can be recycled, though not through a normal council bin collection.  They need to make their way to a scrap metal yard.  I do this by keeping a pile of metal for recycling until it reaches enough to warrant SMSing a local scrap metal collector.  He does not pay me for it because the amounts are small, but he is glad to pick it up for free and to know that there is steel housed somewhere until a time that is convenient for him to pick it up.

What to do With Used Motor Oil

Used motor oil is a tricky one to dispose of.  Firstly, one needs to be careful not to get it on:

• Pavement – recycled ice cream containers can help here. I reuse the same to plastic ice cream containers each time I change the oil.  I have cut them with a bread knife down about an inch so they fit more easily under the sump, and so I use them instead of purchasing new, plastic, purpose-built oil trays.  They have served me well for years.

 

• I also have reserved several large sheet of cardboard boxes that slide under car to provide a nicer surface to work on and to catch any rogue drops that don’t make it to the plastic containers.  Cardboard works really well because it is slightly absorbent, can be wiped fairly clean, and is rigid enough to maintain its shape use after use.  It is important to, to the extent this is possible, dedicate the cardboard to that task, rather than finding a new sheet each time.  Once cardboard has motor oil on it then its effectiveness as a recyclable paper product is diminished significantly because unlike other recycling methods paper does not involve burning off slag that floats to the top.  Sheets of cardboard are easily stored next to a shelf between a shelf and a wall.

 

• Garden – dispose of leaves after a spill.  If I spill any oil while I am pouring used oil back into an old oil container, then I always ensure I pick up all the contaminated leaves.  In hindsight, next time I think I will procure a cardboard tray for just such a thing.

 

Reuse of Used Motor Oil

Funnily enough, used motor oil can be used as a solvent for cleaning mechanical parts.  I remember watching my dad clean lawn mower spark plugs in his container of sump oil.  It would dissolved the grime build up on the spark plug and extend its life significantly.

Disposal of Used Motor Oil

I always keep a bottle or two of emptied oil containers from the previous oil change(s).  This gives me the perfect canister to safely store used oil until I have the opportunity to dispose of it properly.  I generally bottle it up and take to my local mechanic in batches.  He is happy to pour it in his holding tank that is emptied by a truck periodically.  Mind you, I have a good relationship with my mechanic and he knows that I sometimes service the car myself between visits to him.  I am certain that if you turned up to a random workshop near you they would not appreciate being used as a drop off oil service.  The other alternative is to keep an eye out for a chemical drop off run by your local council, and take it down to them with any other poisons or paints you are disposing of.

 

 

 

Makeshift Funnel

Rather than purchasing a new plastic funnel, my wife had this ingenious idea of slicing a small hole from the corner of a plastic takeaway container to work as a funnel.  This minimises the inevitable splash of oil when pouring from a full bottle of new oil.  I also now use it when pouring used oil back into bottles and it works a treat.