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Used Oil Management Program
Recycling your used motor oil is easy.
- Do not spill any oil on the ground.
- Put your used motor oil in a clean plastic container with a tight lid. Never store used oil in a container that once held chemicals, food, or beverages.
- Do not mix the oil with anything else, such as antifreeze, solvent, or paint.
- Take used motor oil to a service station or other location that collects used motor oil for recycling.
Public Service Campaign
The “You Dump It, You Drink It” campaign focuses on the proper management of used motor oil and includes a variety of free, printed information materials that are available in both Spanish and English.
Related Links
American Petroleum Institute Used Motor Oil Collection and Recycling Site 
California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle) Used Oil Recycling Program
Used oil is exactly what its name implies, any petroleum-based or synthetic that has been used. During normal use, impurities such as dirt, metal scrapings, water or chemicals, can get mixed in with the oil, so that in time, the oil no longer performs well. Eventually, this used oil must be replaced with virgin or re-refined oil to do the job correctly.
If you are one of the many people who change their own motor oil, you too need to know how to properly dispose of the used oil. Did you know that the used oil from one oil change can contaminate one million gallons of fresh water — a years’ supply for 50 people!
- Used motor oil is insoluble, persistent and can contain toxic chemicals and heavy metals.
- It’s slow to degrade.
- It sticks to everything from beach sand to bird feathers.
- It’s a major source of oil contamination of waterways and can result in pollution of drinking water sources.
On average, about four million people reuse motor oil as a lubricant for other equipment or take it to a recycling facility.
- Recycled used motor oil can be re-refined into new oil, processed into fuel oils and used as raw materials for the petroleum industry.
- One gallon of used motor oil provides the same 2.5 quarts of lubricating oil as 42 gallons of crude oil.
Become used motor oil recycler number four million and one!
- Begin recycling your used motor oil today.
- If all the oil from American do-it-yourself oil changers were recycled, it would be enough motor oil for more than 50 million cars a year. Imagine how much foreign oil that would eliminate.
- Used motor oil from cars, trucks, boats, motorcycles, farm equipment and lawnmowers can be recycled and re-refined.
