what's green and not green ?
Is biodegradation green, or is re-use and energy recovery green ?
There are so many shades of grey.
Have got (maybe) an old HotRod Magazine that showed how to make a used oil disposal system. A hole dug in the yard filled with gravel. A ceramic sear pipe as a riser, the balance buried, and the sewar pipe capped with a roofing tile...tip the oil in...From recollection of the article, it was quite probably in the days when the fuel, and oil contained heavy metals.
I remember, and have posted here a few times in the distant past, my Grandad used to douse the blackberries (noxious weeds, they can give you removal orders) in used engine oil, then burn them off. Those areas created the most luscious pasture/grass...for whatever reason, the minerals (Zn, P, Mo ?) in the oils, the char residue, recolonization by fungi ?...who knows ?
Are either of those green ?
Or are they "damaging" ?
All shades of grey.
Originally Posted By: supton
If the local incinerator took used oil, and made electricity from it, then I could see this making sense. Use waste/recycled/reused paper/cardboard, or anything of a fluffy material that would burn (rags etc) and this might be less waste than a drain pan. Drain pans don't last forever.
But since burning waste is not that popular... don't see the need.
But with this...what would you do with this waste oil ?
Burning waste once was popular...then it became unpopular, and we just started throwing stuff in landfill.
Burning waste reduces the volume of landfill (which is good), produces energy in a from that we can use (electricity), and reduces the greenhouse potential from the rotting gasses, which is also good.