Waste oil & used oil - what's the difference?
Posted on Thu, May 12, 2011 @ 03:14 PM
The short answer is a lot! At operations using vehicles, you are bound to have a garage. In the garage, on the yard, anywhere those trucks are used, your bound to find new oil for the trucks. Where does the old oil go? It's normally held onsite, either to be burned in a heating unit, trucked offsite, or other uses. These tanks more often than not are labelled "waste oil" - or worse yet, not labelled at all, and described to as the "waste oil" tank.
Almost every time I find out it is not a tank for waste oil, but a tank holding used oil.
Waste? Used? Is this a question of wording, or is there really a difference?
First off, whether used or waste oil, it's regulated by the Federal USEPA and State governments under the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act.
Now here's the difference.
Used oil is oil that has been used, and as a result of such use is now contaminated by physical or chemical impurities. The classic example is oil drained from the engine of a truck or vehicle, and then stored for reuse or recycling.
Waste oil is oil that has not been used, but is found to be unsuitable for its originally intended purpose. For example, suppose a 55-gallon drum of oil was opened only to find that the cap on the drum had leaked, and now the oil was mixed with water, rendering it unsuitable for it's original purpose. A big difference between the two is that waste oil is a hazardous waste.
So there is a difference in what they actually are. And, there is a difference in how they are regulated too. Used oil is considered a regulated waste, while waste oil is a hazardous waste. Nearly all plants have "used oil" and very few ever have "waste oil". There are additional regulations, such as the level of contamination of the used oil, regards to its eventual reuse, recycling, or disposal. It's much better to have used oil at your site than have waste oil.
Used oil tanks must, by regulation, be labelled as "used oil" - not unmarked, unlabelled, or as "waste oil". Used oil - that's it. I'm sure the guys working at the plant all know what's in the tank, but they need to be labeled.
There are some state-specific differences to this general overview, and in all cases, check with your applicable state waste regulatory office, or seek qualified help.
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