Archive for the 'Recycling' Category
The Davenport
We recently had a booth at the Washington Wheat Growers Convention in downtown Spokane, WA. The award winning Davenport Hotel and Tower served as the site for booth displays, meals, seminars and guest speakers. If you have a chance to visit the “Inland Northwest”, try the Davenport for its first class accommodations. It is also home of the critically acclaimed Palm Court Grill, Safari Room Fresh Grill and Bar and the Peacock Room Lounge.
An economics speaker at the first lunch was very entertaining as well as providing at least one interesting and helpful phrase to me; “Farmers today need to become more efficient to make it in these kinds of economies. Becoming larger without first learning to be more efficient will just result in bigger problems.” This phrase fits our problem solving for many businesses out there by helping them reuse several kinds of liquids used in normal operations.
We took the opportunity of an investment in a display booth in order to more efficiently show the Spillpro pneumatic tool and our microbe products to many wheat farmers in one location. We were in hopes of finding problems that can be solved in their liquid fluid management on the farm and our ability to provide solutions which would help make their business more efficient.
The most popular solution seemed to be our filter system attached to the Spillpro in order to recycle hydraulic fluid. Hydraulic carts are already in use at most good sized shops in order to filter and reuse the hydraulic fluid. The chance to have a multi-use portable pneumatic tool at a reasonable price became fairly attractive when factoring the savings each time the Spillpro solution is used to save $10 per gallon on recycled fluid. If the piece of equipment used 50 gallons, that works out to around $500 of savings…easy math! One of the many factors making us www.GreatGreenSolutions.com !!!
The Spillpro is a fast, affordable and environmentally friendly fluid recovery system. The pneumatic vacuum was originally designed as an alternative and improvement over traditional methods of cleaning up spills in shops, and it does that very well: however, new uses are always being discovered for this “Great” pneumatic tool. Using the air powered vacuum to evacuate crankcase oil directly from the vehicle and filtering oil for recycling (using our special attachment to the Spillpro) are just two of the many beneficial ideas developed.
Our clients have used it for cleaning gas spills, cleaning a diesel spill, antifreeze spills, as well as cleaning up oil spills. Absorbent pads have an extra step in the end. Floor dry has really no recycle use and it cost extra to dispose of properly. Sawdust can be burned in waste to energy plants if available. Shop towels are handy for small spills, but still require extra steps. Mops are another traditionally used method for spill cleaning, but this process creates waste that still must be disposed of in special ways.
Our alternative to many of your spills, the Spillpro pneumatic vacuum, makes quick work of your spill cleanup and eliminates much of the disposal costs. In addition to elimination of most disposal costs, the air-powered vacuum often turns your waste into an asset which helps make the Spillpro a tool that “pays for itself”. Check out the testimonials on the Great Green Solutions site.
Help the environment – After cleaning up the spill, simply turn the valves and you are able to discharge the recovered fluid into any container for reuse, disposal or recycling. A Great Green Solution since you have an eco-friendly tool that pays for itself!
Did you know?
- Any oil or petroleum products, chemical or waste that is released in any manner constitutes a spill. There is no minimum amount below which reporting is not required.
- Storm drain inlets collect storm water and guide it through pipes or channels to streams, lakes and rivers.
- A single drum that spills and has its contents reach the storm drain can cost 10-100 times the value of the raw material in cleanup costs.
- If a spill reaches the storm drain, you can face fines of up to $25,000 per day!
- About 2.1 tons of crankcase oil ends up in our rivers and streams every year. A single quart of motor oil can pollute 250,000 gallons of drinking water.
- If spills are not cleaned up immediately, workers can slip and fall.
Traditional methods of shop spill clean up include rags, towels, “kitty litter” or floor dry, absorbent pads, mops, saw dust and floor wipes. These methods all have something in common; they require special disposal of the waste and offer limited chances for recycling. This means extra costs for you through the disposal process and tougher compliance.
We have found an alternative that pays for itself. How does it do it? By quickly cleaning the spill and storing it in a portable tank. It does this task by use of a pneumatic (air powered) vacuum on wheels. Quick pick up, roll to your waste storage and reverse the valves to evacuate the vacuum. A filter system has been designed for use with the air powered vacuum to clean and reuse your oil and other fluids. The Spillpro has universal fittings which allow the user to come up with many new beneficial solutions.
Pneumatic Vacuum in Action
Use absorbents wisely
Pigs, pads, pillows, and mats
• Keep these absorbent devices on-hand to prevent very large oil spills from spreading.
• After use, wring out the absorbed fluid into the proper drum for recycling or disposal, and reuse of the absorbents.
• Spent absorbent devices must be disposed of properly. This involves determining whether the spent absorbent is a hazardous waste. Floor sweep (grease sweep, “kitty litter,” absorbent pads, rice hull, etc.)
“These are expensive and very time consuming” -$-$-$ These absorbents should be used only when the spill can not be cleaned with proper equipment. The Spillpro pneumatic tool, which is a fluid cleanup and recovery machine is the best we have found. Shop, rags or dedicated mops with oil remediation products like Bio-Rem 2000 can also be used.
• Restrict the use of these absorbents to cleaning up gasoline,diesel, solvents, oil spills or other hazardous waste chemical spills.
• Use floor sweep until it no longer absorbs fluids. Recycle used floor sweep if possible, or dispose as hazardous waste. Floor sweep can be processed to reclaim and recycle absorbed compounds. Ask your vendor about recycling opportunities for spent floor sweep.
Keeping your shop clean and safe
When used together, the following practices and equipment significantly reduce the amount of water needed to clean shop floors. Minimizing waste water generation will reduce environmental liability and help your shop stay ahead of tightening regulations.
Prevent oil spills from ever reaching the floor.
• Stop if there’’s a drop! Never walk away from an oil spill. If oil spills are not cleaned up immediately: Workers can slip and fall. Oil, antifreeze, and other spilled material can mix and be tracked around your shop and into vehicles. You will spend more time and money washing the floor.
• Mechanics should carry rags so that small spills can be wiped dry when they occur.
In case a medium-sized or larger oil spill or other type spill occurs, cleanup equipment should be well marked. For example, attach red flags to Spill recovery equipment, such as pneumatic tools specific for cleanup and containment of spills, mop buckets with remediation products used for spill cleanup so they can be easily located by workers. Keep all spills out of sewer drains.
• Sweep your floor with a broom every day to prevent unnecessary dirt and contaminant buildup.
• Never hose down your work area! This practice generates large quantities of contaminated wash water that is discharged to a sewer, or worse, is flushed out of the shop to a storm drain.
• If you use a pressure washer to clean your floors, be sure to use a remediation product before you wash. Even if pressure washing is performed by a contractor, your shop is responsible for proper management of the wash water and can be held liable for its illegal disposal. The best way to avoid this liability and the costs associated with pressure washing is to clean up oil spills when and where they occur. A pneumatic vacuum helps to complete this task along with a microbe product to eliminate the small amount remaining. The oil one can recover with the vacuum can then be recycled.
Good housekeeping reduces oil spills and protects you against liability.
Here are several suggestions for limiting waste oil problems in your shop.
Place drip pans under cars.
Use different pans for waste oil and for parts covered with solvents.
Fill drip pans only half-way and then use a funnel to pour the oil into a drum or tank
- $$$ Use dry cleanup methods when you do have oil spills. You can use (I) reusable absorbent pads, ( 2) a bristle broom and brush (3) mops that absorb only oily liquids. Wring out or pour the waste oil you clean up into a container or tank. Clean any left over waste oil. Discard the cleanup debris in a separate container
from the waste oil. Use clay absorbents or sawdust, or alternatives such as corn cobs or peat.
$ Build curbs around your waste oil storage area to contain 110% of the volume of the largest waste oil
container or tank.
$$$$$ All of these are good ideas. However, the best method to save time, hassle and money is to use a pneumatic tool, such as the Spillpro, to pick up your oil spills. The Spillpro, with a special attachment, can filter and help you recycle all of your used oil.
There is a new filtration system coming soon that will allow you to reuse your oil. According to most experts, if you filter your oil properly, and add back some new oil, your old oil will be good as new; possibly even better. If you stay tuned to our site, you will learn about an opportunity to save huge $$$$$ by reusing your oil, hydraulic fluid and antifreeze. This will be accomplished by an add on to a pneumatic tool to further expand its many other uses.
We send trillions of dollars overseas to countries, (some who hate us) for oil, when we have the ability to recycle our petroleum products. There are hundreds of millions of gallons of these used products today that are just being discarded.
So get with the program and at the same time save yourself a lot of money.
Even oil spills and other spills like hydraulic fluids and antifreeze can be picked up with this pneumatic tool and recycled.
How Car Fluids are Recycled
Motor oil, transmission fluid, antifreeze and other car fluids are recyclable. Many can be re-refined or reconditioned for use in another vehicle or used for energy and heating.
Recycling Motor Oil
There are three basic methods for recycling motor oil: re-refining, reconditioning and reuse or reprocessing.
Re-refining – Motor oil is treated to remove impurities, and with proper quality controls, this re-refined oil can be used again. The more extensive re-refining processes, can strip away contaminants, and can produce a “good as new” base oil. Additives are then blended with this base oil in order to produce re-refined lubricants, including motor oil, transmission fluid and grease.
Reconditioning – Impurities are removed through a filtration process, although the oil may not be as pure as it was originally. In some cases it can be used again, and therefore the life of the oil has been extended.
Re-use or Reprocessing – Many used motor oils or used industrial lubricants can also be used as a heating and energy source. If they cannot be used “as-is,” they can often be reprocessed to remove certain impurities and then used as a fuel, in turn saving crude oil which would otherwise need to be refined to make replacement fuel.
Recycling Antifreeze
Antifreeze often can be recycled at an auto repair shop equipped with the proper filtration or distillation technology.
- Contaminants such as oils and heavy metals are removed from the antifreeze through a variety of methods such as include filtration, distillation, reverse osmosis and ion exchange.
- The antifreeze is restored to “new” antifreeze by adding chemicals that stabilize the fluid and make it more resistant to breakdown.
Transmission fluid, power steering fluid and gear oil can also be recycled, reconditioned or reused through similar processes.
What Happens Next to Car Fluids
Unlike many other recyclable materials that are “down cycled” each time they have been used, motor oil and other similar car fluids just need to be cleaned to be used again as the same product.
Many used fluids such as motor oil, antifreeze, windshield fluid and transmission fluid can be re-refined, reconditioned or reused for a new life as the same products. Motor oil also can be used as:
- An energy source for industrial boilers, power plants or other combustion facilities
- A raw material used by the petroleum industry
The consumer plays a vital role in this loop. Recycling your used car fluids can help create new products and less waste.
The Many Uses of Recycled Motor Oil
Recycling used motor oil keeps oil out of landfills and ensures that this oil is available for re-use, reconditioning, reprocessing or re-refining. From a purely environmental point of view, the best thing that the motor oil consumer can do is to buy a longer-lasting oil. In that way, less used oil is generated in the first place. Over 380 million gallons of used oil is recycled each year according to the U.S. EPA, which equates to over 50 percent of all motor oil purchased annually. Currently, used motor oil can be re-used or recycled one of three ways – reconditioning, reprocessing or re-refining. It is important to note that each process can be important in helping to manage the overall volume of used motor oil in the U.S.
Currently 14 percent of used motor oil is re-refined and the consumer demand for this product has not made re-refining economically efficient for oil manufacturers.
Reconditioning
In some industries, oil is filtered through a filtration system or otherwise cleaned. This process removes insoluble impurities so the oil potentially can be used again and again., such cleaning does extend the oil’s life and use.
Re-Use and Reprocessing
Both lubricants, such as motor oil, and fuels, such as heating oil, are petroleum products. When an oil can no longer perform its original lubrication job, it may be perfectly suitable for Re-use and a second life as a fuel petroleum product in, say, a power plant with little or no treatment. If some treatment is needed, reprocessing of used motor oil removes some water and particles so that the oil can be burned and used as fuel to generate heat or electricity for commercial operations. 74 percent of all oil re-use/recycling in the U.S. is for burning in turbines, incinerators, power plants, cement kilns and manufacturing facilities (asphalt, steel, etc…). An additional 11 percent of used motor oil is burned in specifically designed industrial space heaters. This creates a valuable form of energy, which helps our economy by avoiding the need to refine new commercial heating oil from imported crude oil.