Posted on: September 5, 2021 Posted by: Flenn Freeman Comments: 0

Whether you like to do your own repairs to your cars or lawnmowers or are an avid cooker and love to try the newest deep-fried creations, you are going to find yourself with dirty, contaminated oil at some point. Your first instinct might be to pour it into the garbage, but this method could end up creating more problems in the long run. Properly disposing of oil will help protect the environment and keep landfills free of potentially toxic materials. 

Motor Oil

The EPA has said that used oil from just one oil change can contaminate 1 million gallons of water if not disposed of properly. Additionally, used oil has heavy metals and toxic chemicals that can be harmful to people and wildlife. Because of this, it is vitally important that you never throw used motor oil into your garbage can.

Instead, collect the oil in containers with tightly sealed lids and take it to your local recycling center. If your area doesn’t have a recycling center, there will likely be an oil waste treatment Westchester County NY center near you. If you can’t find anything, talk to the workers at auto stores or body shops and find out where they take their used oil. 

Cooking Oil

Are you one of the people that feel that it is totally acceptable to dump your used grease down the toilet or sink and simply follow it with a good dose of hot water and soap? If so, you’re going to need to call a plumber soon because you’re destroying your pipes. Instead of dumping the oil, collect it in sealable, non-breakable containers. You can then put it into the trash can to be collected. 

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If you don’t like the thought of it ending up in a landfill, then you can donate your grease to companies that will repurpose it. Many companies have begun to clean the used grease and turn it into salable commodities. They can turn the grease into anything from soap to biodiesel and even non-toxic pesticides.