Safety-Kleen invests in Ontario’s green economy

Safety-Kleen Canada Inc., a collector and re-refiner of used motor oil, recently broke ground on a $26 million expansion of its Breslau, Ont., used oil re-refinery. The expansion will increase the facility’s processing capacity by 25 percent, from 152 million to 191 million litres of used oil annually.

This increase in re-refining capacity will allow the used oil generated by the equivalent of 130,000 engine oil changes a day to be re-refined back into high quality lubricating oils. The economic and environmental benefits of the re-refinery upgrade include:
• Reducing Ontario’s dependency on crude oil from foreign sources or tar sands for the production of lubricants. Once the Breslau refinery expansion is completed, more than 13 percent of all base lubricants produced in Ontario will be derived from re-refining.
• The ongoing production of high-quality lubricants meeting the same standards as those produced at a crude oil refinery, but using 30 times less natural resources.
• A 25 percent increase in avoided greenhouse gas emissions, from 309,000 metric tonnes per year to 392,000 tonnes per year. Re-refining 191 million litres of used oil annually provides the equivalent greenhouse gas savings of removing 72,000 cars from Ontario roads.
• Avoiding heavy metal emissions associated with burning used oil in uncontrolled devices, such as space heaters, boilers and greenhouses.
• Creating eight new full-time skilled jobs in Ontario’s burgeoning green economy.

"Re-refining makes an enormous contribution to reducing waste, reducing energy consumption and lowering greenhouse gas emissions, all while creating jobs and investment in Ontario’s economy," said Dale MacIntyre, vice-president of Safety-Kleen Canadian Refinery Operations. "We’re glad to be part of growing Ontario’s green economy, and this investment expands our ability to re-refine lubricants made from non-renewable resources and recycle and re-use them as part of a comprehensive cradle-to-cradle environmental management system." 

The Honourable John Wilkinson, Ontario Minister of Environment, attended the ground-breaking ceremonies at Safety-Kleen’s Breslau facility. "Ontario’s progressive policies on waste diversion support the growth of Ontario’s green economy," Wilkinson said. "Investments like this one by Safety-Kleen will ensure the steady transformation of Ontario’s economy to one that converts what was once considered waste into a new source of wealth for Ontarians."

www.safety-kleen.com