Product Stewardship for Oil Program

Oil is a valuable and finite resource. Each year, more than 500 million litres of lubricating oil is sold in Australia. Of this amount, at least 250 million litres of used oil is generated by industry and the community and is available for recycling.

Supported by the Australian Government's Product Stewardship for Oil Program, Australians recycled approximately 194 million litres of their used oil in 2003. Even though this rate is high, between 60 and 100 million litres remains unaccounted for.

We don't know what happens to this 'missing oil'. However, anecdotal evidence suggests it could be:

Sitting in temporary stockpiles (eg in the garage or shed);
Retained in waste or scrap equipment (such as vehicles);
Lost to the environment at collection points (eg leaking, spills etc).
Put out for household rubbish collection; or
Illegally dumped (in parks and reserves or in waterways, sewer systems and stormwater drains).

The improper use of used oil can pollute land, waterways, underground reservoirs and the marine environment. One litre of used oil can contaminate up to one million litres of water.

Used oil is hazardous - toxic, carcinogenic and harmful to the environment when irresponsibly discarded. It is also poisonous if swallowed or inhaled and can present a fire hazard if not properly stored.

The Product Stewardship for Oil Program was introduced in 2001 by the Australian Government to provide incentives to increase used oil recycling. The arrangements comprise a levy-benefit system, where a 5.449 cent per litre levy on new oil, funds benefit payments to used oil recyclers. The Program, administered by the Department of the Environment and Heritage, aims to encourage the environmentally sustainable management and re-refining of used oil and its re-use. These arrangements provide incentives to increase used oil recycling in the Australian community.

There are 3 parts to the Arrangements:

The Government is spending $34.5 million over 7 years in transitional assistance to support the implementation of the product stewardship arrangements.

The Product Stewardship (Oil) Act 2000 establishes the general framework and benefit entitlements of the Arrangements and also establishes the Oil Stewardship Advisory Council.

A used oil directory has been created to help people find the nearest drop-off station, used oil collector and used oil recycler in local areas.