“A lubricating oil which was collected after use and processed into fuel oil for burning, could as a matter of law cease to be waste before it was burnt as fuel….”

This judgement has caused some problems for the Environment Agency and DEFRA which now have been set a task to determine exactly when recycled oil can no longer be classed as waste but as fuel.

This process of coming up with the exact specification of fuel not waste is expected to take some time and until this process is completed the waste oil will still have to be treated as waste under Waste Incineration Directive and disposed as such.

There is a potential that oil collections may again in the distant future attract a realistic positive value, which will allow garages and producers to receive cheaper collections. However this is some considerable time off and is entirely dependent on the final specification agreed between the Environment Agency and DEFRA in consultation with the Oil recycling Association.

Finally questions on how cheaply the waste can be turned into the fuel (with the desired specification) are yet to be answered. Especially in light of potential reductions being implemented in Sulphur contents in virgin fuels will the recycling industry be able to perfect a process of cutting Sulphur reductions enough to meet European Directives. On top of this the technology to achieve this is not cheap with recent projects have come with a price tag in the region of £25+ million.

For further information on this story please see our March 07 and November 06 newsletters.

For information on the actual court ruling please visit

http://www.lawreports.co.uk/WLRD/2007/CACIV/jun07.htm