A Matter of Refinement

摘要

With over 1.2-billion litres of finished lubricants sold in Canada each year, the environmental importance of managing the associated waste stream is significant. Used oil, if not handled properly, can result in contamination and major environmental damage. In fact, according to Alice Chung, regional manager in charge of Newalta's North Vancouver facility (one of only two used oil re-refineries in Canada), "Just one drop of oil is enough to contaminate all the water in an Olympic-sized swimming pool." Every year, Newalta recycles over 36-million litres of used lube oil through its North Vancouver re-refinery to produce high-quality base oils for reuse in new lubricants. Contrary to popular belief, lubricating oil does not wear out. Rather, it becomes contaminated and the additives depleted. Newalta's patented re-refining technology allows used oil to be a renewable resource by recycling the oil many times for multiple re-use. While the recycling of used lube oils has been possible since the late 1920s, it wasn't until 1983 that a Canadian innovation increased the viability of re-refining on a large scale. Mohawk Lubricants, purchased in 2002 by Newalta, developed the world's first commercial-scale re-refinery to use the conventional refinery processes of vacuum distillation and hydrotreating to recover clean, neutral base oil from used lubricating oil. This process became the global standard for used oil processing and was adopted by four other re-refineries in North America, including one in Breslau, Ontario.