Seventy-two percent of waste oil generated in Spain in 2018 was refined into base stocks, according to a recent annual progress report by Sigaus, a non-profit organization that manages the countrys recycling of used lubricants.
Madrid-based Sigaus reported that the 72 percent figure – amounting to 100,321 tons – exceeded the 65 percent minimum mandated by law. The organization claimed that the base stocks produced by those rerefining operations were used to make more than 66,000 tons of new finished lubricants.
According to the associations historical data, thats a slight improvement from 2017, when the country rerefined 93,841 of the 131,900 tons collected, or 71 percent. The national record of 78 percent was in 2015. The lowest rate since adoption of current rules was 65 percent in 2013.
The organization said waste oil is collected from more than 69,000 establishments by more than 150 management companies.
Sigaus is charged with managing the Collective System of Extended Producer Responsibility, a program aimed at ensuring that waste oil rerefining remains financially viable. It does so by paying subsidies to used oil collectors and rerefiners. The funds come from a tax of 6 Euro cents per kilogram charged by engine oil installers.
The organization raises or lowers its subsidies each quarter based on fluctuations in prices for base oils and waste oil. In May Sigaus announced it raised its subsidy by 17 percent during the second quarter to offset falling base oil prices.