Facility protects environment, conserves resources by recycling, re-refining used oil

EAST CHICAGO, INDIANA ­– Recognizing the growing need for recycling valuable resources and extending the life of oil products, Safety-Kleen, Inc., today announced a significant expansion of its East Chicago oil re-refinery.

The $15 million expansion project will increase the facility's production capacity by 16 percent, from 60 million gallons in 2006 to 70 million gallons annually, and will allow the company to re-refine an even greater amount of the used oil it collects from its network of more than 110,000 locations nationwide.

"Recycling is at the heart of America's green movement, and Safety-Kleen is a national leader in this field, recycling 80 percent of the liquid and solid industrial wastes we collect each year for re-use or energy recovery," said Safety-Kleen CEO and President Frederick J. Florjancic, Jr.. "Our process for re-refining used oil produces lubricants that meet the same quality standards as new oil, but it does so using 50 to 80 percent less energy."

Florjancic said that by re-refining the used oil it collects, Safety-Kleen prevents the emission of approximately 300,000 metric tons of greenhouse gasses that would be created if this oil was burned for its one-time energy value - equivalent to taking 200,000 cars off the road every year.

Today, Safety-Kleen is the largest recycler and re-refiner of used motor oil in North America, collecting more than 200 million gallons of used motor oil annually, and producing almost 100 million gallons of recycled base and blended oils. Recycled motor oil from Safety-Kleen is used in official State of Indiana vehicles, as well as by the U.S military, the Chicago Transit Authority and the U.S. Postal Service.

"In 1991 our capacity in East Chicago was 27 million gallons.  By working with our customers and the East Chicago community, we've experienced steady growth over the years, and we've demonstrated to everyone that re-refining used oil can play an important role in both environmental protection and resource conservation," said Michael Ebert, vice president of Safety-Kleen's U.S. re-refinery operations. "This expansion reinforces our commitment to increasing the recycling of used motor oil and giving businesses the opportunity to 'make green work' for them."

Ebert said that since April 1991, the East Chicago re-refinery has recycled 1.6 billion gallons of used motor oil, representing a savings of 3.4 million tons of greenhouse gas emissions that would have been generated in producing an equivalent amount of oil from crude using traditional refining processes.

About Safety-Kleen

Safety-Kleen is a leading North American used oil recycling and re-refining, parts cleaning and environmental solutions company, with approximately 4,300 employees serving more than 330,000 customer locations in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico.   Safety-Kleen provides a broad set of environmentally-responsible products and services that keep North American businesses in balance with the environment.