Universal Lubricants set to recycle used oil for Colorado company

Tags: maintenance and reliability, preventive maintenance, green manufacturing, energy management

WICHITA, Kan., April 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Universal Lubricants, America's only true closed loop oil recycling company, today announced that Colorado on-site fueling, preventive maintenance and repair company Equipment Savers has hired them to recycle tens of thousands of used oil filters and approximately 55,000 gallons of used oil each year. The recovered oil from the filters and the used oil will be re-refined at the company's advanced refinery in Wichita, Kansas to make its American Petroleum Institute (API) certified green motor—ECO ULTRA®. The scrap steel from the oil filters is sent to a steel mill to be melted and used to produce new products ensuring that nothing ends up in a landfill.

"Universal Lubricants' tightly controlled closed loop oil recycling process gives us the piece of mind and confidence that our used oil filters and oil will be properly recycled," said Tom Sullivan, Service Manager at Equipment Savers Fleet Services. "For over two decades, Equipment Savers has been providing safe and environmentally responsible on-site fueling, preventive maintenance and repair services in Colorado, Arizona and Texas and our relationship with Universal Lubricants furthers that corporate commitment."

The U.S. produces approximately 1.3 billion gallons of used oil each year, and only 10% of it is re-refined.  The rest of the used oil is either improperly disposed of (damaging the environment) or burned as an industrial fuel and is gone forever. Additionally, over 400 million oil filters are used in the United States every year, containing 22 million gallons of used oil.  Unfortunately, many of those filters end up landfills and the oil that they contain contaminates the environment and is gone forever. Universal Lubricants is working to reverse these trends.

"Universal Lubricants is dedicated to protecting the environment and conserving our natural resources—each week we collect and recycle 150,000 used oil filters reclaiming thousands of gallons of used oil.  That reclaimed oil as well as the used oil will collect from around the country is re-refined back to high quality base stock oil and then blended to make our high performance, green ECO ULTRA® motor oil," said John Wesley, Chief Executive Officer of Universal Lubricants. "We appreciate Equipment Savers commitment to making a difference."

Universal Lubricants collects used oil filters and oil from the government and private businesses such as repair centers, auto parts stores, dealerships, service stations, and oil change centers across the United States. The company then transports those oil filters to its oil recovery center in Wichita, Kansas. The oil recovered is put into the company's technologically advanced re-refinery where it undergoes a state-of-the-art hydro-treating process to remove all of the water, fuel and solvents as well as metals, asphalt flux and other heavy contaminants. The purified high quality Grade II base stock oil is then blended with a synthetic formula and additives to make API certified ECO ULTRA® products. The scrap steel from the filters is sent to a steel mill to be melted and used to produce new products.

Universal Lubricants operates 28 facilities in 14 states, including a branch in Denver, Colorado.  For more information about Universal Lubricants' ECO ULTRA® products and used oil and filter collection services, visit www.universallubes.com.