Recycling used motor oil, oil filters and car batteries

The used oil from one oil change can contaminate a million gallons of fresh water, a year's supply for 50 people. Motor oil gets dirty but doesn't wear out, so recycling it saves the oil as well as keeping it out of soil and water. An old car battery holds lead and acid that don't belong in the trash.

Used motor oil

• Pour it into a leak-proof can or container without spilling any
• Find out where to drop it offLocal car repair shops, waste collectors and the local government's waste office can tell you when and where they take used oil.
• Keep it out of drains, the ground and the trashUsed oil is slow to break down, sticks to everything from sand to feathers, and can carry toxic chemicals and heavy metals. It's a major source of the oil that pollutes waterways and drinking water sources.

Oil filters

• Drain the filter before you take it in
• Drop it off with the used oilMost collection centers that take used oil take the filters too. The steel in them is reused as scrap.

Car batteries

• Take a lead-acid battery back to a battery retailer, or to a household hazardous waste collection programIt can hold up to 18 pounds of lead and about a gallon of corrosive, lead-contaminated sulfuric acid.
• Keep it out of the trash and the recycling bin
• For a hybrid or electric car's battery pack, call the dealer, shop or salvage yard it came fromThese packs are large and complex, and an owner may not be able to remove one. Follow the manufacturer's instructions and safety warnings.

What recycled oil becomes

Used oil can be re-refined into new motor oil, processed into fuel oil, or used as a raw material for refineries. Re-refined oil has to meet the same refining and performance standards as new oil, and it works the same in a car's engine. Making it takes less energy than refining crude, and one gallon of used motor oil yields the same 2.5 quarts of lubricating oil as 42 gallons of crude.