Recycling cubies - Diesel Forum

DevoK12RS · 01-18-2006, 11:07 AM

For those of you getting your oil in the cubies, how are you disposing of them?

My local recycler won't take them because they contained oil. I tried engaging him in a conversation about veg oil vs. petroleum (they won't take anything that ever had petro products or any derivative, relative or resemblance thereof) to no avail. I can think of a couple of uses for a few, but I'm getting way too many to use.

I'm not a tree huggin' granola [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif[/img], but I despise throwing stuff in the dump that should be recycled. This is standard No 2 plastic. Can I find someone who will take it? [img]/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shrug.gif[/img]

Any help is greatly appreciated!!

Devo

rcdallas · 01-18-2006, 11:19 AM

If it's /2\ plastic, can't you just rinse it out? I'd personally dump them if the recycler says otherwise. The 1 gallon containers that my motor oil comes in, I've always recycled them. Isn't plastic originated from petroleum? I can't see how that would be a problem.

DevoK12RS · 01-18-2006, 12:01 PM

Yes, plastic is a petroleum product AFAIK. That's the part of all this that kills me. I called my curb side hauler and they said no dice. "Oil is known by the state of California to be a carcinogen......" or something like that. She gave me the number for the county wide environmental/ recycling agency. They told me I wouldn't find anyone in the COUNTRY who would actually recycle containers that had petro oil in them because it is technically considered haz waste. I am under the impression that if you throw the one gallon oil jugs in the recylcing, they will still get sorted into trash.

I stood in my driveway talking to the hauler two weeks ago about the process. He used to have to sort at the curb (glass, plastic, paper...). Now he dumps it all in one truck, it goes back to the site, gets baled, and then sent elsewhere to be sorted. I find that almost impossible to believe, but why lie about that?!?!

Dunno,
Devo

bork · 01-18-2006, 11:06 PM

What are cubies ? Are they square ? I'v never seen them.

h2odrx · 01-18-2006, 11:57 PM

[ QUOTE ]
I stood in my driveway talking to the hauler two weeks ago about the process. He used to have to sort at the curb (glass, plastic, paper...). Now he dumps it all in one truck, it goes back to the site, gets baled, and then sent elsewhere to be sorted. I find that almost impossible to believe, but why lie about that?!?!

Dunno,
Devo

[/ QUOTE ]

i have seen the same thing here, i could not belive it! i'm in the position so i went by their shop and sure enough they pay some one to sort the stuff out? i would think as long as it was trippled rinsed it would be ok? i just toss them after i empty them, push the flat and put the cap back on.

BandE · 01-19-2006, 05:30 AM

[ QUOTE ]
What are cubies ? Are they square ? I'v never seen them.

[/ QUOTE ]

A cubie is the plastic jug that most new oil comes in. They hold about 4.5 gallons of oil but are sold by the LB. They are 35 LB when full. If your very lucky you get your WVO in them. But, then you have to get rid of them.

Seems very strange since veggie oil is non-toxic why any one that recycles plastic would not take them.

NJ will recycle them. But I have to put only one or two out per week. I don’t want the trash folks to think I'm bring commercial trash home. They will stop picking up all together.

bork · 01-19-2006, 10:46 AM

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
What are cubies ? Are they square ? I'v never seen them.

[/ QUOTE ]

A cubie is the plastic jug that most new oil comes in. They hold about 4.5 gallons of oil but are sold by the LB. They are 35 LB when full. If your very lucky you get your WVO in them. But, then you have to get rid of them.

Seems very strange since veggie oil is non-toxic why any one that recycles plastic would not take them.

NJ will recycle them. But I have to put only one or two out per week. I don’t want the trash folks to think I'm bring commercial trash home. They will stop picking up all together.

[/ QUOTE ]

When you say "jug" . Is that the same as the 5gal paint buckets with the flat snap on top with a small opening to pour from. And they are pretty sturdy ?

DevoK12RS · 01-19-2006, 11:10 AM

No, they are a squarish jug with a molded on handle in the middle top with a 3" or so opening to one side with a lid. The whole thing is usually in a cardboard box.

Devo

Charlie_M · 01-19-2006, 12:05 PM

I stopped dealing wiht those cube things altogether about a month or two ago and I much prefer the arrangement I have now. As long as you have a vehicle that'll haul them, I find a 25 gallon barrel is a much better deal. I use a pitcher (about 2+gallons per scoop) to go from the 55 gallon barrel to the 25 gallon, then hand truck it over to the truck. Only thing is that then you have to heft a 25 gallon load up into your car. As long as your platform isn't that high it's doable by yourself. If you think it'll be too heavy for you, only load it halfway, then increase the load a bit each time until you find the limit that's right for your strength level (your strength level may increase over time as well... ever heard the story of Milos and the calf?).

It is important to have good quality 25 gal barrels that seal well, and a good way to secure them while driving. It's pretty easy from there once you get it home. Just drop a barrel heater in there and get it to a reasonable temp for prefiltering and process as normal. Of course you reuse the 25 gal barrel each time so no need to worry about how to dispose of them. I find that 3 25 gallon barrels is plenty. At any given time I have 2 empty and available for collection and one is connected up to my filtering apperatus.

Charlie

Halitosis · 01-19-2006, 03:07 PM

[ QUOTE ]
What are cubies ? Are they square ? I'v never seen them.

[/ QUOTE ]

They are the square, plastic (thin, somewhat fragile) containers of SVO that restaurants purchase for their friers... in the shape of a cube... (hence, "cubies").

Halitosis

mgwerks · 01-19-2006, 03:54 PM

Same boxes you buy quantity oil if for a turkey fryer. Called 'cubitainers'.

dssamp · 01-19-2006, 09:00 PM

arg....you see a bunch of cubies everytime Chicago plays baseball....Chicago cubies....right-on

Spencnaz · 01-20-2006, 06:51 PM

I recycle my cubies after I rinse them out with hot water and Dawn detergent.

That way I'm not hassled by the recycler if they see WVO in them.

RickHredf250 · 01-20-2006, 07:48 PM

I use mine to dispose of the glycol.
Rick H...

angst · 01-21-2006, 03:05 PM

Around here the city funded recycling centers all have about 2-3 staffers that sit in there little office shack and resist coming out to help people unless it is a dire necessity. My M.O. has always been to roll up like I know what I am doing. I'll take my crushed cubies and flattened boxes and start chuckin em in the appropriate bin before someone can blink an eye.
I always make my best effort to drain them real good before crushing. I drain by turning them upside down overnight on top of another cube.
From what the others in this thread suggested about everything getting post bin sorted I think that If I am doing something that potentially mess up a batch that the sorting process would catch it.
If ultimately your cubee ends up in the landfill that is were it was heading anyway before you started handling it and you at least kept 4+ gallons of veg oil from getting snuck into the landfill by the restaurant and you kept from using 4 gal of petro diesel.
It would be interesting if anyone has any technical info on how much and what kind of contaminates would actually mess up a batch of plastic for a recycler.