The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Tool Chest grease disposal

What's the appropriate and earth friendly way to clean or dispose of grease and crud covered shop rags? I thought about taking them to a local lube joint, but is there something better?

Thanks,

jay

liljay,

Good for you! I will elaborate on this, but this is California style elaboration.

Obviously, the grease on the rags makes the entire rag hazardous waste that must be disposed of properly.

Most generators of greasy rags have a commercial linen, or rag service. These commercial services have the proper equipment (and permits) to wash the rags without impacting the environment.

Greasy rags are not suppose to be land filled..in other words, put in the garbage! You already know this!

Whats tough is that there isn't a system in place for Joe Stovebolt(a small generator) to dispose of his greasy rags in a way that is compliant with federal or state policy.

If you can find a trucking outfit, repair shop, or some other facility that might generate greasy rags (throw aways), they might let you put them in their Hazmat junk drum, if they use one.

This is a real gray area..getting rid of this stuff costs someone money. Our recycling center isn't setup to take rags, and I'll bet there are none in your area that will take them either.

I think it boils down to how "green" do you want to be. If it really matters to you, you will research it and find a safe way to dispose of them.

If you only "sorta" care, you'll do a little searching, then dump a few at a time into your garbage, the dumpster at work, or the one behind the K-mart.

This is sort of typical of how our system works. Everyone hollers about hazardous waste and pollution, but there isn't a real good system in place for the little guy to comply.

So, to answer your question..do what you need to do! Remember, this is coming from California, a highly regulated state.


Stuart

I want to be as green as possible. I thought about soaking them in thinner and then pouring the thinner through a filter and throwing away only the last of the crud, but would still prefer to use a service. I will check with a local shop, or maybe my county recycling authority...

Thanks

jay

liljay,

Another star for you! That is a excellent option. clean the rags and reuse them. Again, you are faced with the problem of what to do with the hazardous waste.

As I maneuvered this maze, I came up with some tricks..maybe not totally green though.

Wash the rags in some type of solvent. Reuse the clean rags. Leave the contaminated solvent outside until it evaporates leaving the gunk.

Next time you change your oil, add the semi-solid gunk to the old oil...take the used oil to your recycling center and dispose of it. In California, we get paid 7 cents a gallon for used oil.

As my kids would say, you're golden...and green!

Stuart

While this topic is being discussed, here are some other things to think about.

Where do you dispose of your used floor dry?
Where do you dispose of your old oil filters?
If you have a parts washer, where do you dispose of the dirty solvent?

All I can say, is I try to deal with these issues as responsibly as possible.

J Lucas,

Being responsible when it comes to the environment can sometimes be difficult. As I mentioned above, I live in a highly regulated state when it comes to hazardous material.

Your state should have recycling centers that will take your old motor oil AND filters. Sometimes places like Jiffylube will allow you to dispose of your used oil and filters there.

Some of the larger automotive chains like Kragen and Shucks might accept used oil and filters.

The solvent and floor dry are toughies..I use the "add to" philosophy on my parts cleaner (shark tank). It disappears through drag out and evaporation..I add to it. I never "drain" or dispose of it, it just slowly disappears and I add to it! This satisfies the Big Suits that come and inspect our joint.

Once the floor dry becomes contaminated with oil, grease or solvent, it is hazardous waste. I don't know of anyone that will accept this by itself.

The company I work for has a large repair shop that services heavy equipment. They utilize a service that picks of their full barrels of used oil filters, used solvent and motor oils..AND a large drum that is dedicated to floor sweep, chunks of grease, greasy rags..anything classified hazardous material that isn't put into the other containers.

This service is VERY expensive..it's highly regulated, but it satisfies all the state requirements for our company, and that's what it's about.

So, in conclusion..take the oil filters to a recycler, let the solvent evaporate (semi-kosher) and dribble the floor sweep into your daily trash a little bit at a time until Big Brother gives you the proper option.

Stuart

atomarc, yes I agree with the majority of your answers. The point that I was trying to get across, is that there are grey areas, and we just have to do our best within reason. When it comes to disposing of hazardous waste through a licensed disposal contractor, there is a huge fee that has to be paid up front to have the waste analyzed first, they will then prepare a Hazardous Waste Manifest, which you are required to sign. Then you have to pay them to take it. After spending all that money to do things the right way, you are still responsible for that waste because you were the original generator. So if the licensed disposal contractor decides to dump it illegally, and it gets traced back to you, you can still be held at least partially liable, as it is and always will be considered as waste that you generated.
According to EPA regulations (as recently as about 5 years ago), used oil is not considered hazardous waste and must be identified (tagged or marked) "used oil". If it is tagged "waste oil" you could be fined.
You not only have to worry about EPA regulations but as you stated in California, some of the state regulations can be even tougher. Technically letting solvents evaporate would also be considered harmful to the enviroment as most solvents contain ODC's (ozone depleting chemicals).
There are lots of ways to be responsible, when disposing of these substances. And a lot of them as you stated, can be done for free.
But there are a lot of grey areas.

Greasy rags at home and what to do with them: As California said, depends where you live if you are average home mechanic with all this stuff to deal with. Where I live there is an incineration plant (waste to energy plant) that burns all our curbside home trash. So the greasy rags would be encouraged to increase the BTU. If you wash them the grease goes down the drain to the water treatment plant. If your local water treatment plant is fairly new their equipment is better to deal with grease and oil than old plants. Remember we drink the water from the plant so the less contaminants we put in the waste water the easier load on the plant and the cleaner the water. So I would say for the rags wash them at home or get on some "one to one" trade thing with a local garage or trucking service where they send their rags to a service for cleaning.

What, if any, outlets do you guys have around the North American continent for getting rid of anti freeze? We get "pour it down the drain" here and it bugs me that there isn't something better. Maybe this is the better, but it still bugs me....

J Lucas,

I agree..it's the grey areas that will get you. I might be wrong on this, but as soon as the registered/permitted recycler loads the hazardouse material on his truck and you sign the manifest, you are off the hook..it's his baby now!

Stuart

Unless the rules have changed in the last few years the "Generator" is the owner of the waste. The Waste Hauler has a contract to tranport and possibly store it, but I believe ownership (along with its liabilities) are forever attached to the Generator.
Although, if it is recycled into another product, I think different rules may apply. At least that was the way I understood it when it was explained at several EPA Workshops for Manufacturers.

It has been a few years, so the rules could have been changed. It's also possible that my memory is a little fuzzy on this matter.

With all of the fees, fines, and regulations that are imposed on manufacturers, it's no wonder that they are trying to shift operations to other countries.

burn em.

Check with your county. They should have a hazardous waste disposal site.

California just had a new hazardous material law go into effect 2-9-06. Even your AA batteries are now hazardous waste and must be disposed of at the county hazardous waste site.

In California, the generator is responsible from cradle to grave. And if there are problems past the grave, the generator is still responsible.

MNSmith, That is what I thought, as I mentioned above, I believe that the EPA rules are the same. If I remember correctly, the EPA rules apply when states do not have their own rules.

Thanks for the input.

John