Safety-Kleen Sets New North American Records for Re-Refined Oil Production

PLANO, Texas, Aug. 31, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Following a record production year in 2010, Safety-Kleen Systems, Inc., continues to lead the North American re-refined oil industry, recently setting yet another combined production record for its re-refineries in East Chicago, IL, and Breslau, Ontario.  

"We produced more than 105 million gallons of re-refined oils in East Chicago and Breslau in 2010 and, with production topping 8.7 million gallons in a recent four-week June-July period, we're on pace to exceed that level in 2011," said Dave Sprinkle, Safety-Kleen's executive vice president, oil re-refining.

"We've also expanded the distribution network for our environmentally-friendly EcoPower oil to more than 700 service outlets across the U.S and, with a triple-digit percentage increase in sales over last year, we are leading the industry in meeting consumer demand for 'greener' motor oil."

EcoPower is Safety-Kleen's premium-quality re-refined synthetic blend motor oil and is certified to meet or exceed the quality standards set by the American Petroleum Institute (API) and the Society of Automotive Engineers for new motor oil.  EcoPower uses up to 85 percent less energy to produce than newly-refined oil, which helps consumers conserve resources and reduce dependence on foreign crude.

Sprinkle also noted that the East Chicago re-refinery has an impressive safety record, as well: No lost time accidents since September 1996, which equates to 2.8 million man hours worked safely.  

Safety-Kleen is making good progress developing engineering plans and reviewing potential locations for a third re-refinery, Sprinkle also said, which would further solidify Safety-Kleen's position as North America's leading re-refiner of used motor oil.  Several states in the Southeast and Gulf Coast region have expressed strong interest in working with Safety-Kleen on the new facility, he said, and the company is narrowing a list of potential sites.  

Safety-Kleen began producing high-quality re-refined oil products in 1988, and has steadily increased its closed-loop processing capacity to today's level of approximately 145 million gallons of used oil feedstock per year. The company's Breslau, Ontario, re-refinery will soon complete a 10-million gallon per year capacity expansion, and the engineering plans for a new southern U.S. facility are based on a planned capacity of 45 million gallons annually.  

"Our two existing re-refineries have already processed more than 2.5 billion gallons of used oil into high-quality lubricants and by-products," said Safety-Kleen CEO and President Robert Craycraft. "There is a growing recognition of the environmental and economic benefits of recycling used motor oil in a closed-loop system, and steadily increasing demand for 'greener' re-refined oil, so we're excited to be increasing our re-refining capacity production and extending our leadership in this important market."

For the past 20 years, Safety-Kleen has produced high-quality motor oils for large commercial fleets and the federal government by re-refining used oil the company collects at thousands of car dealerships, automotive retailers and quick-lube facilities across North America. By recycling and re-refining used oil at current levels, Safety-Kleen avoids the emissions of more than one million metric tons of greenhouse gases annually when compared to refining from crude and burning used oil for energy, the equivalent to taking 190,000 cars off the road every year, according to a 2009 life cycle analysis completed by Environ.

EcoPower motor oil is now available in 5W-20, 5W-30, 10W-30 and 15W-40 viscosity grades. In addition, all major U.S. car manufacturers have approved the use of Safety-Kleen SAE 5W-20, 5W-30 and 10W-30 ILSAC-certified motor oil in all their cars. The EcoPower SAE 15W-40 grade has been approved by leading heavy-duty engine manufacturers.

More information about EcoPower motor oil is available at www.ecopoweroil.com

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 approximately 270,000 customer locations in the United States, Canada 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. For more information, please visit safety-kleen.com or call (800) 669-5740.    

SOURCE Safety-Kleen