How To Dispose Of Motor Oil Safely

Disposing motor oil (used or unused) without following proper safety procedures is severely harmful to the environment. It is a toxic pollutant that needs to be handled carefully. You should never throw the oil out with your regular garbage, dump onto the soil or a water source, and flush into the toilet or kitchen sink. You might already be thinking about how to dispose of motor oil safely.

Well, there are several ways. If you truly care about the environment and avoid being fined by your local authority, you have to take care of both accidentally spilled oil and used oil.

How To Dispose Of Motor Oil Safely

You have to manage the safe disposal of all types of motor oils. We’ve discussed the methods for dumping both spilled and used oil without polluting the environment.

1. Cleaning Up Spilled Oil

Accidental spillage can happen, but many people leave it as it is, hoping rain to wash it out or the sun to dry it up within a few days. But you should clean the spill immediately to prevent the oil from spreading.

cleaning oil spill
Cat litter will be handy in cleaning spilled oil (Photo Source: gardeon)

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Cover up the spill with a generous layer of kitty litter. Leave it for a few hours and then sweep up the place and dispose of the litter. After applying dishwashing soap onto the place, scour with a rough-bristled brush. In case of an unpainted concrete surface, apply a solution of bleach and laundry soap (1:1), and then soak off the liquid with a cloth or paper towels.

Rinse the area well after you are finished with the cleaning.

2. Unloading Old Oil

How to dispose of motor oil safety during the oil change or when you need to empty the car’s tank? Well, following the method below will help you do the disposal with no hassle.

How to dispose of motor oil
Dispose the oil at the right places (Photo Source: philkotse)
  1. Oil changing means that you have collected the dirty, old oil in a collection pan. Transfer the oil to a disposable container with the help of a funnel. Cover the ground with a newspaper when doing this. It could be an old soda bottle or an empty oil container. Make sure that the bottle has a tight screw-on cap. Use a funnel to transfer
  2. Be careful that the oil is not mixed with any other substance like antifreeze. Companies that do the recycling won’t accept oil mixed with other liquids. So, be careful that the container has nothing other than motor oil residue.
  3. The next part is to dispose of those oil-containing bottles. There are a few ways. You can take them to an auto parts store or oil-change facility as most of them accept used oil. Some stores may ask for a small recycling fee. If you don’t find any such facility nearby, ask your local AMSOIL dealer for information on how to dispose of motor oilin your area. Earth911 is another good place to find nearby waste-recycling facilities.

Active participation in oil recycling and proper disposal will keep the environment clean and the rate of pollution in check.