Update on Programs Across Canada
Roughly on billion litres of lubricating old are sold in Canada each year. About half the oil is consumed during use; the remainder is either disposed (e.g., burned, used as a dust suppressant on roads or imporperly poured down drains) or recovered, reused and recycled through re-refining. In addition to used oil, the transportation sector generates tens of millions of recyclable still filters and several hundred millions of recyclable plastic bottles and pails — virtually all of which are currently landfilled.
Some Canadian provinces have made significant progress implementing programs to recover used oil, containers and filters in the last four years. The most successful programs to date are in the Prairie provinces where industry developed, operated and funded programs supported by backdrop regulations are leading the way. In Canada, two different regulatory models are used for used oil collection: the “return-to-seller” model and an industry developed program referred to in this article as the “CPPI model.”
