Matt Sinclair
Sanford High School
msinclair@amigo.net
719-274-5167
Recycling Waste Oil
Introduction
In the United States there are over 23,000,000 cars and trucks owned. The number of cars
and trucks will continually increase in the future as it has in the past. With the large number of
vehicles on the road, owners of these vehicles must change oil. It is estimated that about half of car
owners’ change oil themselves (Korzeniewski, 2008). This adds up to millions of gallons oil that must
be disposed of each year.
Used motor oil from one oil change improperly disposed of can contaminate a years worth of
water for 50 people. Recycling waste oil gives automobile owners a safe way to dispose of their used
oil, which can then be re-refined for use in automobiles again or the waste oil used in waste oil
heaters. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) used oil program state that 1 gallon of waste
oil will make 2.5 quarts of usable motor oil compared to 42 gallons of crude.
Used motor oil not only contaminates water supplies, it is full of heavy metals, slow to
degrade and effects soils and wildlife (EPA, 2008). Recycling of used motor oil is a responsibility that
students must learn. The purpose of this lesson will be to introduce students to recycling and inform
them on ways to store waste oil and build their own waste oil recycling center.
References
Korzeniewski, J. (2008, April 16). Don’t forget to recycle your used motor oil. Message posted to
http://www.autobloggreen.com/2008/04/16/dont-forget-to-recycle-your-used-motor-oil
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. (2008). Used oil management program. Retrieved April 20,
2008) from http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/hazwaste/usedoil/index.htm
http://www.swivel.com/data_columns/show/3527585?value=United+States
http://www.castrol.com/recycling
Agriculture Education Standards
AME 11/12.01
Technology Standards
4- The cultural, social, economic, and political effects of technology.
5- The effects of technology o the environment.
13- Assess the impact of products and systems.
18- Transportation technologies
Objectives
1.
2.
3.
4.
Students will understand hazards of waste oil.
Students will understand uses of recycled oil.
Students will use design process.
Students will understand proper storage of waste oil.
Teacher instructions
The assignment will have students learning facts about waste oil hazards, waste oil recycling
and waste oil containment. The assignment will consist of student research on waste oil, recycling
stations for waste oil, demonstration of proper oil changing and involve students building a model
waste oil recycling station.
The first step in the lesson is to have students’ research waste oil hazards, process of rerefining waste oil, other uses of waste oil, and approved types of storage. During the research phase
instruct students to visit web sites such as Castrol, the EPA, Earth911, and other sites related to
waste oil. During the student research they should begin to develop a list of material(s) suited for oil
containment, location of current recycling centers, methods for waste oil cleanup and containment.
The second step will be a demonstration of proper oil changing procedures. This procedure
can take place in the school lab or arrange a visit to an automotive service center. During this lesson
students should be shown how to properly drain engine oil and properly transferring it to a holding
container and draining of the oil filter.
The third step will require groups of two students. The students groups will go through the
EPA web site for setting up a recycling station http://www.epa.gov/epaoswer/nonhw/recycle/89039a.pdf . During this step of the lesson students will begin to develop sketches and
material needed for construction of a waste oil recycling station. The recycling station must be able to
hold oil and oil filters.
The fourth step of the process will be the construction of a model for waste oil containment.
The containment system must be able to hold water be easy to fill and drain. The model will only hold
one type of used oil. Student should be allowed 4-5 class periods for construction of the model. The
building of the model can be done with any material that would be suitable for actual oil storage. The
size of the model must be able to hold one gallon of water. The container must have a drain and
containment area to catch possible leaks.
The assignment will be worth a total of 100 points. 15 points will be for research and
documentation information from research, 15 points will be for sketches and drawing of design and
the final 70 points will be for the model of the recycling station. Photocopy the student design sheet
with research grade for individual students added to the team total.
Resources
 Computer lab
 Projector & lab top
 Graph paper for sketches and drawing
 Hot glue gun
 Silicone caulking (squeeze tube type)
 Scissors
 Aluminum foil
 Other student supplied material for model
 Oil drain pan
 Funnel
 Oil filter wrench
 Wrench to fit oil plug
 Re-refined engine oil of proper weight.
Recycling Waste Oil
Name: _______________________ Partner_____________________ Date: __________________
Instructions
Each person in the group will individually research recycling waste oil, during your research
you will look for information on waste oil hazards, process of re-refining waste oil, other uses of waste
oil, and approved types of storage. Using a word processing program you will record five key points
for each of the above topics. Along with the information you will need to list where the information
was found. This information is to be turned into instructor before design can take place.
After research is completed and you have approval to move on, you and your partner will begin
designing a waste oil recycling station on graph paper with the final drawing in the space below. The
final drawing must include dimensions and material type. The model can be built with any material
that would be suitable for actual oil storage. The size of the model must be able to hold one gallon of
water without leaking. The container must have a drain and containment area to catch possible leaks
and an area for oil filters.
Grading
Research
Drawing
Model
Total
_____/15
_____/15
_____/70
______/100
Managing Used Motor Oil
You dump it, you drink it.
Handle used motor oil safely.
• Follow good housekeeping practices and your state’s
management standards.
• Do not mix used motor oil with anything.
• Accept used motor oil from Do-It-Yourselfers (DIYs) and
send it for recycling or reuse. Call the RCRA Call Center
(1-800-424-9346) for details about a liability exemption.
• Keep clean-up materials such as rags, sand, booms or clay
kitty litter close at hand.
• Contain spilled oil by spreading sand or other clean-up
material over and around the used motor oil.
• Buy and maintain reusable clean-up materials when possible.
• Recycle used oil clean-up materials or send them to an
energy recovery facility when possible.
• Reduce waste and save money by using extraction devices
(e.g., centrifuges, wringers and compactors) to recover used
motor oil from reusable clean-up materials.
• Remove used motor oil from rags or other clean-up materials
and recycle the motor oil as you normally would.
• Put used cleaning materials in the trash when they do not
contain any free-flowing oil and when they can no longer be
reused or recycled.
• Send used motor oil to a re-refiner whenever possible.
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
EPA530-F-02-029S
Winter 2003
www.epa.gov
You dump it, you drink it.
Properly store used motor oil to protect the
environment and our health.
1 Label all containers and tanks as “Used Motor Oil.”
2 Keep containers and tanks in good condition.
Don’t allow tanks to rust, leak or deteriorate. Repair structural
defects immediately.
3 Never store used motor oil in anything other than tanks and
storage containers.
4 Store used motor oil in safe areas away from workers.
5 Do not mix used motor oil with anything.
Store separately from sorbents and chemicals.
Solid Waste and
Emergency Response
EPA530-H-02-002S
Winter 2003
www.epa.gov