New Train Wagons to Meet Demand for Oil Recycling in Austria

Austrian waste and recycling firm, A.S.A. Abfall Service has introduced 14 new rail tank wagons for the environmentally friendly transport of the used oil to an oil recycling facility, and has also branded the recycled oil that it sells as a high quality product for the first time. The company explained that it collects used oil in Austria for processing and reuse, but that oil as a secondary raw material should not be viewed as a second choice product. Due to its material properties, A.S.A. said that its newly branded A.S.A. Lube can be used and subjected to the highest quality requirements, for example, in professional motor sports. The oil is now delivered to customers as a brand, and according to the company, secondary raw materials are no longer considered second choice products, they are already a first choice material. “In many areas secondary raw materials can offer excellent quality and reduce the dependency on primary resource markets,” stated Dr. Bertram Laub, responsible group-wide for material management at A.S.A. Abfall Service. Old for new As crude oil is becoming scarce, A.S.A. explained that through some innovative processes high quality base oil for use in the production of lubricants for modern high-performance combustion engines can be distilled from used oil. The company claimed that the energy consumption required to produce this recycled product is just half of that needed for lubricant production from crude oil. One litre of used oil is said to be able to produce 0.7 litres of the ‘new’ base oil for use in engines, gears and hydraulics. A.S.A. went as far as to say that the quality of this product is in fact much higher than that of base oils produced from crude oil. The product is produced by the company’s international refinery partner, Puralube. Big market Approximately 3 million tonnes of used oil are collected annually in the European Union, yet according to A.S.A. currently more than half of that is still incinerated rather than recycled. The company added that in Austria over 40,000 tonnes of used oil is being collected yearly and more than 90% of used oil it collects is being recycled. Due to the increasing demand for base lubrication oil recycled from used oil, A.S.A. said that it has now introduced 14 new rail tank wagons for the environmentally friendly transport of the used oil to the refinery. With the new wagons 1.2 million litres of used oil can be transported for recycling at one time. “Apart from an important contribution to resource extraction, we were able to save 3 million tons of CO2 emissions and hence contribute to world climate protection“ said Puralube’s Dr. Sönke Möhr. Read More Huge Potential to Increase Automotive Waste Oil Recycling Mark Cawley, automotive sector director at Safetykleen discusses the importance of efficient oil collection and recovery in the automotive industry. Case Study: Increased Metal Recycling from Waste to Energy Ash with Rare Earth Magnet A case study looking at how Covanta has increased ferrous metal recycling from waste to energy bottom ash by upgrading its magnetic sorting systems. Plastic Recycling to Open New Polystyrene Recycling Facility in Indianapolis Plastic Recycling is to open a recycling facility in the city dedicated to post-consumer foam cups, foam take-out containers and other used polystyrene materials collected through kerbside pick-up programs across the country.