Jun 09, 2022 Bubele Nyiba, ROSE Foundation
Recycling hazardous used oil responsibly is essential
Bubele Nyiba, CEO, ROSE Foundation
The 2022 National Environment Month campaign, is calling for transformative changes to policies and choices to enable cleaner, greener, and sustainable living in harmony with nature. Waste management of a wide range of products is a key component in achieving the goal of a healthy environment.
In South Africa, the government is implementing stringent waste management legislation across various sectors, utilising Section 18 of the National Waste Management Act, a section that deals with Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR). In 2020, the government published Extended Producer Responsibility Regulations, and Notices for the producers in the in electric and electronics, lighting, packaging, and single-use plastics industries to implement EPR. Most recently, the government has also issued Notices to implement EPR in the lubricants, pesticides, and battery industries.
The lubricants industry welcomes the introduction of legislation to enforce EPR. Our industry has been implementing EPR since 1994, when we took a proactive stance to mitigate the potential harmful effects of oil on the environment by establishing a voluntary extended producer responsibility scheme, through the establishment of the Rose Foundation. The purpose of the organisation is, “to promote the common interests of the oil industry to prevent the pollution of the environment by used lubricants in South Africa.”
Used lubricating oil is classified as hazardous waste, as used oil and grease from vehicles and machinery, contain three types of dangerous pollutants, polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), heavy metals and lubrication additives. These hazardous pollutants are generated through the use of the oil as a lubricant in motor vehicles and in industrial operations. If used oil is irresponsibly disposed of into landfill, down drains or onto the ground, it can leach into wetlands, and rivers, where it can pollute the water and have serious environment effects on marine and fresh water organisms and human health.
The ROSE Foundation has been successful in driving responsible recycling of used oil on behalf of the lubricants manufacturing and reselling industry. The organisation has overseen the recycling of over 1.5 billion litres of used oil since its inception, and continues to grow its initiatives to educate the market and to increase the volumes of used oil recycled.
From large industries to individual backyard mechanics, generators of used oil have a legal duty to store and recycle used oil responsibly to protect the environment in South Africa. The disposal of used oil is strictly governed by environmental laws and its storage and disposal has to meet the requirements of the https://cer.org.za/virtual-library/legislation/national/pollution-and-waste/national-environmental-management-waste-act-2008
Large used oil generators should store used oil safely for collection by a Rose Foundation accredited oil collector, who will issue the generators with safe disposal certificates, as required by the Waste Act.
When used oil is recycled in South Africa, it is usually partially reprocessed to remove particulates and is sold as an industrial burner fuel. In some instances, it is being re-refined back to base oil, but this is a costly process to establish, and the demand for burner fuel is still dictating the economics of recycling. The safe disposal of hazardous waste has become a critical issue, South Africa needs to manage in order to protect our environment. Responsible waste management is no longer a nice thing to do but a necessary thing to do.
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