Used oil recycling programme extended
02 August 2019
The Government has renewed the accreditation
of a product stewardship scheme which has been preventing environmental
harm by reducing the potential for illegal or unsafe discharges of
used
oil.
“Used oil that was previously either dumped in garage backyards or down
drains or sent to the
Holcim cement kilns in Westport is now collected
and carefully managed. The
Recovering Oil Saves the Environment
(R.O.S.E.) scheme has operated since 2011 and has also improved the
storage of used oil at the sites it services,” Associate Minister for
the Environment Eugenie Sage said in Christchurch today.
The R.O.S.E Scheme is a collaboration between
Fulton Hogan,
Petroleum
Services and
Salters Cartage to recover, recycle and reuse used oil
across New Zealand. Oil that is collected through the scheme is
available to contracted and consented used oil users.
“Under the scheme around 2.5 million litres of used oil is collected
annually from across New Zealand and then used as a fuel source by
businesses which hold the appropriate resource consents. Fulton Hogan,
for example, uses the used oil in its asphalt production plants around
the country, as an alternative fuel source to diesel, light fuel oil and
gas.
“I am pleased to renew the R.O.S.E scheme’s accreditation for another
seven years because the volumes of used oil collected have been growing.
Fulton Hogan collected 250% more oil in 2017/18 than it did in 2011/12 -
the scheme’s first year of operation as an accredited scheme.
“Product stewardship involves responsible management of a product’s
environmental impacts at all stages of its life cycle The “Recovering
Oil Saves the Environment” scheme is a good example of the types of
product stewardship scheme which we need to see more of.
“People and the environment benefit when businesses step up and consider
what happens to products they use, and how to avoid harmful waste from
them. Fulton Hogan and its partners have done this in operating the
Recovering Oil Saves the Environment scheme,” she said.
“It’s a good example of how we can shift away from a ‘take-make-waste’
economy to a ‘make-use-return’ one, where products are repeatedly
re-used or recycled.”
The largest consumers of used oil under the ROSE scheme are Fulton Hogan
Ltd, Oji Fibre Solutions Ltd and Tegel NZ Ltd. Other participants in the
scheme include: Allied Lubricants, BP, Repco, Supercheap Auto,
Lubricants NZ, Oil Intel.
The R.O.S.E scheme is one of fourteen voluntary product stewardship
schemes with Ministerial accreditation. It complies with the
Environmental Protection Authority’s 2013 guidelines under the Hazardous
Substances and New Organisms Act on the management and handling of used
oil.
Further information on product stewardship and the Waste Minimisation
Fund is available from
www.mfe.govt.nz/waste.
--ENDS--
Source: New Zealand Government - www.beehive.govt.nz
Contact: N/A
External Links: www.mfe.govt.nz/waste
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