any buyers for used atf, motor oil, coolant?

Lots of places are taking used oil and antifreeze for free on the pretense of recycling it nowadays...has anyone found buyers for bulk quantities of either? Say a couple hundred gallons or more.



Granted, storage and transport can be difficult, but if the choice is giving it away for free or taking a profit, I'll take the profit.

There are buyers. I'd ask oil change shops in your area who buys their oil and see if you can make any contacts. They should buy motor oil, atf, and I believe brake fluid (someone correct me if I'm wrong). I would think that they would have minimums as they send out trucks to pump it. I've seen auto yards filter and re-bottle coolant and washer fluid. You could fill some gallon water bottles and throw an add on craigslist and see if you get any bites.

Good idea...I'm really hesitant about approaching shops with questions like that but I should be more aggressive. Supposedly Valvoline buys all the recycled oil Oreilly Auto Parts collects, for example, but they only purchase at the corporate level and not through smaller companies like mine.

However a lot of folks around here are using waste oil furnaces, and when supply is low I guess even they'll buy it.

As coolant and oils become more expensive, the market for recycling should really open up.

Never hurts to ask. The worst they can do is tell you it's none of your business, but it's also likely they will be happy to send some business to their buyer.

No, to the brake fluid.
There is not much of a market for coolant either.
And the oil...the price depends on where you live. Oil goes from .15 to 1.00+. Most guys like to pick up 250 gallons or more. If you live in a region that uses waste-oil heaters there is a market on craigslist. Worst case scenario is sell it to a local-owned-larger auto shop, then they will resell it.
The waste-oil burning guys really like the ATF and there is a separate market for it.
What is your location?

I'm in Ohio - Dayton/Cincinnati area

I worked for a waste management Co. from 05' to 07'. My job was to get contracts with lube & mechanic shops. At the time we were paying up too .30 cents a gallon for waste oil. We charged for removal of anti-freeze. I here it has become a very lucrative business in the last few years. Safety-Kleen & Thermo Fluids are the two BIG Players in the industry. " LOTS of EPA Regulations "

Iron...You are in a not so good location for the Big Players, but sometimes that works out to your best.
Late in the quarter or year, the drivers are trying to meet quota for bonuses......
55 gal drums work well for storage. I get them here for free.

great info. My long term goal is to set up an auto salvage yard or liquidate several to make one competitive one, and any profit source will be a bonus. Plus it helps to get those "green dollars".

Originally Posted by Big Tex

Safety-Kleen & Thermo Fluids are the two BIG Players in the industry. " LOTS of EPA Regulations "

we used to deal with safety kleen when they serviced our cleaning solvent tanks...The drivers always went on about how dangerous it was to transport the chemicals, and how we'd be liable if they had a wreck or spilled it. It scared us out of using their service LOL...we just went to a different solvent that we could buy and dispose of locally...

Bulk fluids can be pretty worrisome.

I'm up in Northeast Ohio. This is small time but I have been somewhat successful selling good used oil/tranny fuild to places that have waste oil heaters in their shop. First customer I ever found for the stuff was off Craigslist. Been doing the .25/gal gig for a few years as I get it. Store till winter and then put on the hard sell with 4-5 of these type of guy. Someone usually grabs it. I don't get very much in a year though. Less than 55 gal. You might have a better gig with more volume and be able to market as a sole "fuel" source type deal to these small shops or put in your own waste oil heater for your own shop......

Those guys are just blowing smoke.....They do not want you, to do the work, for fear of being caught.
Look up antifreeze with the EPA......only restriction...do not put into septic tank. And the new antifreeze .....food grade ingredients.

IronPirate....the Big scrap yard in my location take all the plastic, rubber, oil, tranny fluid, gear oil, etc.....and use it to feed the shredder. I call it GKW.

Gkw?

God Knows What

LOL good one.

There is a place around here that buys it at like 50 cents a gallon i think.but you have to have atleast 250 gallons

a ford diesel tech told me about. this this is what he does with the ATF he saves from changes
if you drive an older diesel save the ATF
drop a magnet in the barrel filter the it to 1micron and mix it 50/50 with your fuel
cleans the injectors and for the price you cant beat it
i save all the ATF i can get

Originally Posted by easyrecycle

In short....diesel trucks can run on alot of things...the newer trucks...not so much.

You hit a nerve with this one - what happened to diesels!? They used to be the engines that would still be running at the end of time...now they're fragile, electronic toys that kids plug their iphones into to make them "roll smoke". The 7.3 and the 5.9 12 valve seem like the last real diesels...sure the new ones can run a 13 second quarter mile and you can run the radio and AC while doing it...but **** they're complicated!!

Sorry...derailing my own thread