This month, we’re sharing news our fuel service delivery customers can use regarding hazardous waste disposal guidelines. There have been updates to the disposal regulations that apply to drained oil and fuel filter recycling. Don’t let your company get ‘kicked to the curb’ (so to speak) or environmental practices fall to the wayside by failing to implement the new regulations.

As a provider of fuel service delivery, we know that the impacts of these new changes could be far reaching. A wide variety of businesses handle used oil, and used oil and fuel filters. Service stations, fleet maintenance stations, and garage shops all generate and must dispose of such items following the laws that govern those processes. Here’s a more comprehensive list.

What types of businesses could be impacted?

– Commercial or industrial operators that provide vehicle and fleet maintenance. This is by far the broadest category, and may include car repair shops, service stations, government motor pools, grocery stores, boat marinas, and metal working industries. These businesses are often referred to as “generators” in the guidelines.
– Collection facilities that accept used oil fuel filters, and transporters that pick up shipments to deliver to recycling facilities.
– Refiners and processors.

If you own or operate one of these types of organizations, you know that there are both state and federal regulations that must be followed to properly dispose of waste that could pollute the environment. In general, federal regulations established by the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) provide oil management standards that must be followed, unless your local state laws have tougher requirements. Then, the state laws are those that apply to your business.

That’s why today, we’re covering some of the basic information you need to make sure you’re in compliance with the most recent regulations for hazardous waste disposal. Please note, as your fuel delivery service provider in California we’ll be covering our local laws. To find out the laws in other states, you can head over to the federal EPA website at the link found here to get connected to information from other state agencies.

Here’s what you need to know to follow the rules and help keep the environment clean.

New hazardous waste rules for used drained oil and fuel filter recycling

1. The new rules cover use of used metal, paper, and paper and plastic oil filters.
2. All used oil and fuel filters must be drained of all free flowing oil or fuel before they can be placed in storage containers for recycling.
3. The used filters must be punctured and drained for 24 hours before placement into the storage container.
4. All filters must be crushed for storage.
5. Metal filters must be separated from non-metal filters for recycling. Used paper and plastic oil filters are considered hazardous waste and must be treated differently.
6. Used paper and plastic filters, after they’ve been drained and crushed, should be placed in in your “Non-RCRA HAZ LABELED HAZARDOUS WASTE” solids drum. (This is the same drum used for other oily waste, such as rags and spent oil soaked absorbent.)

Additionally, we encourage you to take advantage of the metal oil filter recycling exemption. Only place used-drained metal oil and fuel filters in the separate container designated for this purpose.

Keep in mind that you must also properly contain the used filters. Be sure to properly label storage containers and only keep them stored within the acceptable time limits.

In our next blog, we’ll cover the rules for containment and transport of used oil and fuel filters.

Between now and then, we invite you to get in touch to take advantage of our expertise if you need additional information. You can visit our website here. Proudly serving the Bakersfield, Fresno, Ventura, Santa Clarita and San Luis Obispo California counties. Services include fuel delivery, lubrication solutions, fleet fueling cards, and both gas station and quick lube franchising opportunities. Contact us today!