Hey guys,
I finished a coolant flush over the weekend and was curious where other members have disposed of the fluid? I called my local Pep Boys and they only take oil.

Location: Bay Area california
Thanks guys.

 

Drop it off at a Jiffy Lube around midnight

 

Or Autozone.

 

Any place that changes radiator fluid should accept it. Jiffy lube will.

 

im with this guy, drop it off in a container and they will dispose of it

 

Except that it's illegal to just leave it.

Why do that when they will accept it when they are open? It's the law that they have to accept it, why would you break the law by just dumping it?

 

thanks for the help! I'll try taking it to a Jiffy when they are open.

Is it really a law? Makes sense, or its logical, but unless they get some gov't subsidy for recycling it properly I do not know why this would be a law. either way, thx for the help

 

Does your city have a recycling drop-off center? Find the city or county official website and have a look around.

We have a drive-thru one. I pull in, a bunch of people grab my containers of automotive fluids from the trunk, dump them, and place the containers back. I dont even get my hands dirty.

 

Let me start off by saying that I am not proud of it, but I used to be a manager of a Jiffy Lube. I must say that I never saw it in writing, but we were told that it was against the law for us to turn away anyone wanting to turn in used oil or antifreeze. The only exception was when we could not identify what they were trying to drop off (Had someone bring by cooking oil one time). The reasoning behind it, as I understand it, is to prevent people from dumping oil down the sewers or onto land, where it will be absorbed by the ground water. Waste laws are even more restrictive in Cali, so I don't see why it would be any different their.

All the oil and antifreeze gets recylcled. There are companies that buy the stuff from oil change places. I know the oil locally goes to a paper plant, that burns it for fuel. If you go to a Jiffy lube here, you are getting recylced anti-freeze if they do anything to your radiator, it's all the have.

 

Forced to accept it with no fees charged to the people?^

 

Correct.

 

I say check your local landfills/recycling centers. Here in Fairfax, our county dump takes oil/coolant/etc free of charge since they recycle it.

 

I didn't think of the groundwater issue.

 

lol, seems like that is a lawsuit waiting to happen, especially with a BMW

 

A lot of the large automotive chains will take oil and/or antifreeze. I have about 10 gallons of old oil that I need to take to autozone at the moment.

 

what about a mix of coolant and oil?

 

You're going to have a hard time finding anyone to take that. It's best to keep at least 2-3 of those cheap $5 drain pans from Walmart or elsewhere on hand so you can keep fluids separate from one another.

 

from what I've heard here in Nebraska, if you dump anti-freeze down a drain connected to the sewer line (bathtub, toilet) then they can seperate it out, but when it goes into the street drains, its on a seperate line and is not able to be filtered out, thus going right back into the drinking water or lakes. Best bet though is definately find someone who will take it.

 

Why? There are additives in the antifreeze that never wear out, that is what they recycle. They use new distilled water, lubricants, and corrosion inhibiters. That's like saying you can't make anything from recylced metal.

 

mtrai760 is right on about them having to take it.