Industry News

Years ago, oil filters were simply trash, and the waste oil from them was a by-product that was burned in a heater or a costly disposable that a recycling company was paid to take away. Those days are over.

Recycling scrap metal and used oil is a big business now. The question is: Are you taking advantage of the value from old oil filters and recycling the metal and used oil?

This is where the purchase of an oil filter crusher — WUZHOU KINGDA essentially a device that squeezes all of the engine sludge and oil out of a used filter and flattens it at the same time — can be a worthwhile investment.

Yet, some shop owners and shop foremen scoff at environmental regulations because an agent of the government never came through their door and scrutinized their environmental practices. Even small shops are not above being slapped with fines for everything from properly evacuating refrigerant to the treatment of batteries. The way in which the government treats how waste oil is stored and disposed of is no different.

Most shops, however, are careful to follow environmental regulations, but may sometimes be unaware of the numerous regulations that govern the disposal of waste oil and oil filters. Although many states require that used oil filters be drained for a period of 12 to 24 hours, there are shops that drain oil filters for a few seconds and then throw them into the trash. These filters would be considered hazardous waste according to the regulations, so just trashing them is, obviously, improper management.

While you may not have anyone digging through your trash, there is no reason to expose yourself to excess liability. Plus, there are potential financial benefits to the proper disposal of oil filters and waste oil.

Potential Return From Waste Oil Recycling

With waste oil fetching prices as high as a dollar a gallon, and scrap steel as much as 50 cents a pound, an oil filter crusher has the potential to provide a return on investment over time.

For example, the Ranger Products RP-20FC oil filter/can crusher costs around $1,300. An average oil filter is about half a pound of steel. With two oil filters making up a pound, and a pound fetching about 50 cents in scrap metal, roughly 5,200 oil changes pays for the machine in scrap metal alone. Add to this the profits gained from recycling the increased waste oil that is squeezed out.

Depending upon the vehicles and equipment in your fleet, larger motor oil and transmission oil filters may hold as much as a pint of fluid that cannot be easily drained. Crushing eight filters using the RP-20FC yields a gallon of waste oil, with the subsequent return on investment.

An easy way to determine if your shop will have quick or slow ROI is to look at how many oil filters you buy in a year. If hundreds of oil changes and transmission services are performed a year, chances are that the ROI for the oil filter crusher would be relatively quick.

How Filter Crushers Work

Most oil filter crushers essentially function in the same way. The device presses the filter under high pressure and squeezes the oil out and into a storage container. Filters are then crushed to about a quarter of their original size and deposited into a drum.

The more the oil filter can be crushed, the more money that can be made from selling the waste oil. The scrapper might also give you a higher price for the steel, since more filters can be fit into a truck with less mess.

Modern oil filter crushers connect to an existing shop air supply and use that to derive the force necessary to crush an oil filter. For example, the RP-20FC applies 10 tons of pressure, reducing the oil filter to 25% of its original size. The unit includes a 12 1/2-in.-diameter cylinder, pressure regulator and air moisture separator, and an automatic safety door that automatically ceases press operation when opened. A transparent door provides a view of the crushing process.