re-refined motor oil
Motor oil never wears out; it only gets dirty. That allows it to be re-refined an unlimited number of times. Virtually all EcoBiz-certified service stations, fleet maintenance shops and quick lube centers recycle the used oil they collect from customers. If the 1.3 billion gallons of waste oil generated each year in the U.S. were recycled, we would save half the annual output of the Alaska Pipeline. Re-refined motor oil requires 50 to 85 percent less energy to produce than virgin motor oil. It takes 42 gallons of crude oil, but only one gallon of used oil, to create 2.5 quarts of new, ready to use motor oil. In fact, both virgin and recycled motor oils are subject to the same American Petroleum Institute (API) performance standards. Lab and field tests conducted by the National Institute of Standards and Technology, the U.S. Army, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Postal Service, and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency demonstrate that the quality of re-refined and virgin motor oils is equivalent. A number of EcoBiz Certified shops, such as Green Drop Garage, Precision Import Repair, and Hawthorne Auto Clinic, use many re-refined products. Ask your shop or mechanic if they use any re-refined oil products, and start reducing your Greenhouse Gas impact. (Excerpted from National Geographic’s “Is Motor Oil a Renewable Resource? Re-refiners Say Yes” and the City of Portland case study “Rerefined Motor Oil Keeps City Fleet Running Green”)
Green Drop Garage uses 100% re-refined on oil changes
