Birmingham Post-Herald August 22, 2000 Recycling used oil
UA program model for the nation
By CHARLOTTE MCINTOSH
So you spent an afternoon in the sultry August heat changing your car’s motor oil.
BIRMINGHAM POST-HERALD
You saved $15.00, but now you’re hot, tired and left with a jug of dirty oil. It’s just a gallon, you think. You might think that no one would care if you poured it down a convenient storm drain or behind a bush.
But even as little as a gallon of oil can pollute 1 million gallons of groundwater, according to a group sponsored by the University of Alabama.
Project R.O.S.E. (Recycled Oil Saves Energy) has been working for more than 20 years to prevent motor oil pollution by establishing recycling programs and oil dropoff sites.
“A lot of people are still dumping it,” said Charlotte Nix, assistant coordinator for Project R.O.S.E., “People point to the Exxon Valdez (as significant oil pollution), but when you add up all the gallons dumped in backyards, that’s bigger.”
Project R.O.S.E. coordinators want to end pollution excuses by letting people know how easily they can dispose of waste oil.
A recent partnership with a national preservation organization has provided an addition to the group’s Web site (prose.eng.ua.edu), which makes finding a dropoff site even simpler. After entering your ZIP code, a list of the closest dropoff sites appears. More than 50 locations in the Birmingham area are included on the site. A list of nearby sites also are available by calling (800) CLEANUP.
Most area quick lube shops, automotive supply stores and some gas stations accept used motor oil. Some facilities limit the amount of oil to 2 to 3 gallons per person and cannot accept oil contaminated with kerosene or gasoline. Usually businesses do not charge for the service.
About 10 people per week drop off used oil at each of Birmingham’s Auto Zone stores, said Michael Watts, a senior sales representative. The chain also advertises the service in hopes of gaining customers who might buy other items while dropping off the oil.
The public service aspect is another reason businesses collect the used oil.
“We do it for the purpose of helping the public dispose of oil,” said Regina Hines, a utility administrator of Advanced Auto Parts. “We do not take commercial used oil and don’t accept large quantities.”
After the oil is collected, it is picked up by a transporter and can be recycled into lubricating oil or used in manufacturing roof shingles.
All Express Oil Change stores in Birmingham also accept used oil.
“We’re a part of the community and we want to play a part in keeping it clean, said Robert Daniel, executive vice president of Express Oil Change. “We thought accepting oil from the do-it-yourselfers was a good way to do it.”
Project R.O.S.E. coordinators serve as liaisons, connecting businesses with transporters as well as compiling directories of used oil dropoff sites.
Education is also a key part of Project R.O.S.E. Nix and project coordinator Sheri Powell travel throughout the state, explaining to farmers, boaters, and “shade tree mechanics” the harmful effects that come from dumping oil. Powell recently returned from the Covington County Salute to Agriculture Convention, where she met with farmers and other rural residents.
“We meet people and try to get the message out,” Powell said.
In addition to educational efforts, Project R.O.S.E. also aims to provide disposal sites, especially in rural areas.
“Rural areas tend to be a bigger problem. There’s a lack of businesses that take used oil.”
This year, Project R.O.S.E. installed 9 oil collection tanks in rural areas or small communities, including Cullman, Geneva and Tallapoosa Counties, as well as Fairhope. Funds for the tanks are raised through the programs’ annual “Run for the Roses” 5K race in March. Powell said she would like to install a tank in every county, but limited funds make that difficult.
The program receives $75,000 yearly from the state and federal governments. But level funding in the past nine years has made many of the programs’ goals difficult to achieve. Ideally, the state would include funding for Project R.O.S.E. in its annual budget, Powell said.
The program was conceived during the energy crisis in 1977 by Gary April, a chemical engineering professor at the University of Alabama, Nix said.
“He saw it as a valuable resource people were throwing.away.”
What started with a $5,000 grant and two oil dropoff points in the state has grown to 500 dropoff sites, as well as various educational programs.
As the oldest recycling program in the nation, Project R.O.S.E. has become a national and global model for other communities wanting to start a similar project. The Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy have distinguished the Alabama project as a model program, basing a pamphlet for starting an oil recycling program on Project R.O.S.E.
Israel and Spain are just two of the nations that recently have contacted the Alabama program for information on beginning similar efforts.
Although Powell said the contact from international communities is exciting, watching other programs based on Project R.O.S.E. flourish with state funding can be frustrating. South Carolina started a state-sponsored program with $1.5 million annual budget in the early 1990s and has placed a collection tank in every county.
But even with its fractional budget compared to other states, Project R.O.S.E. is making a difference, said Mike Forster, state recycling coordinator.
“Millions of gallons of oil have been recycled through this. There’s no telling where it would have gone otherwise, down the sewer or in the grass.”