Recycling of Waste Oil and Used Oil

Bangalore-based Century Refineries Pvt. Ltd has commissioned a recycling plant for used and waste oil at Hosakote near Bangalore. Speaking to Projectmonitor over phone, S.K. Bharadwaj, Managing Director, said that this would be the biggest such plant in Karnataka and would help in forestalling environment pollution that would have been caused by the unscientific disposal of wastes.
Elaborating on the project, Bharadwaj said that the plant would be equipped to handle 10,000 tonnes per year of used oil and a similar quantity of waste oil, in addition. Used oil is typically automobile engine oil that is discarded when automobiles undergo 'oil change,' whereas waste oil that contains heavy metals and other hazardous chemicals which, if not treated properly, can cause severe damage to environment.
The categorisation of used and waste oil has been spelt out in the Hazardous Waste (Management, Handling & Transboundary Movement) Rules 2008, notified recently, he explained. On the operational side, he said that Century Refineries has entered into annual contracts with industrial and commercial establishments for used and waste oil that constitutes the feedstock. The plant will be equipped to handle a wide range of industrial waste and used oil. In conjunction with the company's existing incinerator to dispose the hazardous waste generated in the recycling process, the activity will involve no discharge, he observed.
Speaking about government support to oil recycling projects, Bharadwaj maintained that the Karnataka State Pollution Control Board has been very sensitive and proactive in supporting such projects, and so has been the Central Pollution Control Board. Century Refineries, he said, is considering setting up similar projects in southern India, followed by other cities in the next phase. Kerala, it is understood, has the country's largest oil recycling plant that is operated by the private sector.
When queried about carbon credits, Bharadwaj said that the company was evaluating the possibility of securing such benefits under the Kyoto Protocol, as the oil recycling process technically supports fossil fuel conservation.
Sounding caution, Bharadwaj said that India might face challenges in handling the growing volumes of waste oil. Thanks to the Basel Convention that has allowed import of used oil, the waste oil volumes have grown exponentially. "India will need to handle some 200 million tonnes of waste oil annually, which could be a challenging proposition," S.K. Bharadwaj concluded.