Originally Posted By: Kibitoshin
Originally Posted By: NoNameJoe
Seems ridiculous to be honest.
I like how it says "The Pollution Solution!" despite making more pollution and using more resources than just draining the oil, putting it into a re-usable container and bringing it to a recycling center. Every part of it makes no sense.
Because the other option to dispose oil in Hawai'i is to pour it down the storm drain. There is no place that takes used oil here (even oil change places or friggin Unitek.) The only way for residents to dispose oil is to use these boxes, throw it in the trash where it gets sent to H-POWER and is incinerated to create electricity.
The key with these boxes is to seal the inner bag tight using a zip tie and throw it in a garbage bag so it won't explode all in your trash can. It helps to do your OCI's prior to trash pickup day so it's not sitting in the bottom of the bin all week long.
It then seems the solution should be for the local Hawaii government to develop a process for recycling oil. If the local Hawaiian government can't get off their [censored] and get that done, such that the end result is people using this or dumping it into a storm drain (which is absolutely insane), someone hasn't done their job. This is the bare minimum a functioning government should provide unless they want a cumulative exxon valdez around their pristine picturesque waters.
My main problem with this product is that it involves taking used oil which contains highly toxic compounds, carcinogens and heavy metals, dousing "absorbent material" in it within a cardboard box, then I'm assuming the whole box is burned, at which point where do all of those toxic, carcinogens and heavy metals go (assuming no scrubber or capture system at the exhaust of the power plant)?
We also now no longer have all three of those resources available to re-use, they're gone forever. Imagine this happening on an industrial scale. I'd say it's a blessing most people probably don't use this. Contrast this to just pouring used oil into an inert plastic container and recycling the used oil. That plastic container can also still be recycled if the oil is cleaned out of it (but it will probably last a lifetime though so...), I've had my drain pan and containers for decades.
I'm not a tree hugger either, I just think that if there's responsible recycling solutions within reach that are trivial to do (like oil recycling at any store), we have the moral responsibility to do it for this one planet we have left. No littering, don't throw your cigarette butts on the ground, that kind of stuff.
I don't technically have a problem with burning waste to generate electricity but my definition of "waste" is something that can't be recycled and is at the end of its lifecycle (like spoiled food). Cardboard, absorbent materials (made of...paper/fiber?) and used oil are so far from that definition. Used oil can be recycled infinitely, we're never going to get more of it after we pump all of it out of the ground. It behooves us to recycle it as much as possible.
