Going Green
by Stretch Henrick
We decided a few months ago to go ‘green’, or at least as green as a motorcycle establishment can get. I mean, how difficult can it be? Jay Leno got it right. Not sure who Jay Leno is? He is a very rich US talk show host who is a rabid petrolhead. Read about his garage here - http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/jay-leno/technology/4213287
Leno has the money to be an example of what can be done but simpler things are within most of our grasps. Obviously this is not an overnight process so like everything else, one starts with the easy stuff.
OIL
Recycling oil is something we have been doing for years. We have a few 210 litre drums (44 gallon drums for the non-metric) into which we pour all our old oil. When the drum is full, we phone Oilcol and they come and remove the old oil for recycling. Alternatively, phone the Rose Foundation to find out more about the disposal of old oil.
METAL
This is easy. We divide metal into steel, aluminium and mixed.other and put them in separate containers. When they are full, we go off the nearest scrapyard and get a few bucks back in the process.
CARDBOARD
Lots of spares come on a card or packed in cardboard boxes. We get entire bikes in cardboard boxes. We have one huge box (about 2 cubic metres) into which all the cardboard goes. Every now and then, it gets collected. We will never get rich on this, the going rate (they pay by weight) seems to be about R10 for every cubic meter of cardboard.
PLASTIC CONTAINERS
Most new oils, coolant, brake fluid etc come packaged in plastic containers. More accurately they come in high-density polyethylene .e containers (Plastic is strictly speaking a property not a substance) and are usually referred to as HDPE containers and they are made from petroleum products. All of the oil containers we use are recyclable (look for the recycle symbol containing the number”2” on the container).
Should not be a problem to recycle then, right…right??
Big problem. NO ONE locally wants containers which have had oil in them. Why not nobody can tell me. I cannot fathom why a container originally made from petroleum products and has once had petroleum products in them cannot be recycled. Places like PETCO have not been much help either!
Can anybody solve this mystery? Does anybody know somebody who can clear this up for me? Can anybody point me in the right direction? Anybody??
PARTS WASHING/DEGREASING
For years the accepted method was the parts washer which was (still is) a partially enclosed counter height unit which pumped power paraffin through a hose with a brush on the end. The pieces that required cleaning were placed on a grid and brushed whilst the paraffin loosened the oil or grease and flushed it away. This old paraffin drained down through the grid into a container where it was ready for reuse. Eventually the paraffin gets too dirty to be of much use and has to be replaced.
It should not be too much of a problem to convert this setup to a water based system, no?
All the chemical and cleaning companies I have spoken to have water based degreasers but none of them can be recirculated. They all work on the principle of emulsifying the oil or grease into a form which can be flushed down the drain which is not what I want to do. I want a water based degreaser which can be recirculated.
I know the stuff exists, I just have not found it locally yet.
I am open to ideas.
