What to Do With Used Motorcycle Oil

Used oil is recyclable, and there is an established system for collecting it. Whether your local collection point will actually take yours comes down to three things: the container you brought it in, whether anything else got mixed into it, and whether you rang ahead to ask. The third one answers most of the questions people have about this.

Difficulty	Time	DIY cost	Tools	Safety
Beginner	Minutes to hand over, one phone call beforehand	Often free, but it varies locally	Sealing leak proof container, funnel, nitrile gloves	Skin contact with used oil, spills, fire near a hot exhaust

Before you touch anything

• Skin contact. The US Environmental Protection Agency describes used motor oil this way: "Used motor oil is insoluble, persistent, and can contain toxic chemicals and heavy metals." Source: US EPA, Managing, Reusing, and Recycling Used Oil. Wear eye protection and nitrile gloves. Decanting from a pan into a jug is the step where it flicks upward, and never clean your hands with petrol or solvent.

• Hot oil and hot exhaust. If you are draining rather than only carrying oil away, let the engine come down to warm first, and keep what spills off hot pipes, where it smokes and can catch.

• Spills. A film of oil on a garage floor is a fall waiting to happen, and you will be carrying a full container across it. Lay something absorbent down before anything is opened, not after.

• The bike falling. Level ground, a proper stand or lift, and never a jack on its own.

• Storage. Filled containers go sealed, upright, out of the sun, away from anything that could ignite them, and out of reach of children and animals until the day you hand them over.

• Never run an engine in an enclosed space.

What used oil is, in the EPA's own terms

The EPA is unusually plain about it: "Used oil is exactly what its name implies: any petroleum-based or synthetic oil that has been used." Its fuller test for businesses has three parts, labelled Origin, Use and Contaminants. Origin: "Used oil must have been refined from crude oil or made from synthetic materials." Contaminants: "used oil must become contaminated as a result of being used." Source: US EPA, Managing Used Oil, Answers to Frequent Questions for Businesses.

The agency's management standards for used oil are codified at Title 40 of the Code of Federal Regulations, part 279, which it describes as "a set of 'good housekeeping' requirements for used oil handlers". That part is written for handlers rather than for a rider changing oil at home, but it is why the collection infrastructure you are about to use exists.

The same page adds that "Your state regulations governing the management of used oil might be stricter than EPA's. Contact your state or local environmental agency to determine your best course of action." Carry that sentence through the rest of this page.

Why it matters, and where we stop

The EPA's own descriptions of the problem, quoted rather than paraphrased: "It's slow to degrade." "It sticks to everything from beach sand to bird feathers." "It's a major source of oil contamination of waterways and can result in pollution of drinking water sources." The agency also states that "used oil from one oil change can contaminate one million gallons of fresh water, a years' supply for 50 people". Source: US EPA, Managing, Reusing, and Recycling Used Oil.

Now the boundary, because this is a subject where guides reach for something more alarming. The EPA's published language on these pages is about environmental contamination, persistence and water pollution, plus the statement that used oil can contain toxic chemicals and heavy metals. It does not state a specific human health outcome from exposure, and we are not going to supply one it did not write. Wear gloves and wash, and leave the claim there.

Containing it

The EPA's handling instruction is short: "If you plan to recycle your used oil, take care not to spill any when you collect it and place it in a leak-proof can or container."

• The empty jugs the fresh oil came out of are usually the best answer available. They seal, they are made for the contents, and they are the right size for what you drained. Mark them clearly as used.

• Do not use a container that held food or drink, and do not use one that held a chemical whose residue is now part of what you are handing over.

• A drain pan with a sealing lid and a pouring spout removes the step where most spills happen, which is the transfer.

Do not mix anything into it

This is what most often turns an acceptable container into one that gets refused at the counter. Used oil is collected as a known material, and a collection point takes it because it can be relied on to be used oil and nothing else. Pour something else in and what you are carrying is no longer used oil. It is a mixed waste with a different handling route, and the site in front of you very likely cannot accept it.

So: no coolant or antifreeze, no petrol, no brake fluid, no solvent, no degreaser, no paint, no water. Not a splash. If your machine has separate gearbox or primary fluid to drain, keep those in their own labelled containers rather than adding them to the engine oil, and ask about them separately when you call.

If something has already gone in, say so when you ring and again when you hand it over. Declaring a contaminated container is what protects the site and everything else in their tank.

Used filters

The EPA is explicit that filters go too: "Don't forget to drain and recycle used oil filters as well, usually you can drop off the filters at the same collection centers where you deposit used oil." It also states that used oil filters contain reusable scrap metal and that "If properly drained, they can be safely recycled or disposed."

Properly drained is the operative phrase, and an undrained filter is the most common thing a collection point turns away. Stand the filter so its openings face down over the pan and leave it there for the whole drain rather than a moment, then bag it so it travels without marking whatever it sits on.

Where collection actually happens

The EPA points consumers at two locator tools from its recycling page, the Earth911 recycling search tool and the American Petroleum Institute used motor oil collection and recycling site, and gives this instruction: "Check with local automobile maintenance facilities, waste collectors, and government waste officials to find out when and where you can drop off your used oil for recycling." In practice the candidates are household hazardous waste sites, municipal recycling centres, auto parts retailers, independent garages and quick lube shops, and some dealerships.

Here is the honest answer, and it is the useful one. Whether any particular retailer or municipal site will accept used oil from a member of the public varies locally, and so do the quantity limits, the container they will accept it in, whether they take filters at all, and whether there is a charge. A national chain policy does not settle what the branch nearest you will do on a Saturday morning. Ring first. One phone call before you drain is worth more than any list we could print.

Worth asking on that call: do you take used oil from the public, do you take filters, is there a quantity limit, what container do you want it in, is there a charge, and what are your hours.

And the things that are never an option, whatever the local answer turns out to be: down any drain, onto the ground, into the household bin, into a watercourse, burnt in the open, or spread as a weed killer, dust suppressant or timber preservative.

Specifications you need to look up for your bike

Value	Why you need it	Where to find it
Oil capacity for a change with a filter, and without	The container volume to have ready before anything is opened	Owner's manual
Whether your filter is a spin on canister or a cartridge element	A canister is handed over whole and an element is not, so collection handles the two differently	Owner's manual or parts fiche
Whether your machine has separate gearbox or primary fluid, and what each holds	Separate drains and separate containers, so nothing gets mixed	Owner's manual
What your state requires of a container used to transport used oil	It rides in your vehicle, and the requirement is written down rather than local folklore	Your state environmental agency's published used oil rules
Whether your state's used oil rules are stricter than the federal standards	EPA states plainly that they might be, and that changes what applies to you	Your state environmental agency's published rules, and 40 CFR part 279

When to stop and take it to a shop

• A spill you cannot contain, or oil that has reached a drain or a watercourse. That is a call to your local environmental agency, not a mopping job.

• Oil mixed with coolant or fuel that no local site will take. Ask your local agency where it goes rather than guessing.

• No safe place to store sealed containers until a collection day comes round.

• No way to transport it without containers moving about loose in a vehicle.

• If this is enough friction that the alternative is putting the oil change off, a shop disposes of the oil and the filter as part of the job.

Related checks

• Warm or cold, when to drain motorcycle oil

• Drain plugs, crush washers and stripped threads

• How to change motorcycle oil

Frequently asked questions

Can I put used oil in the household bin if the container is sealed?

No. The EPA directs used oil to recycling collection and describes it as insoluble, persistent, and able to contain toxic chemicals and heavy metals. A sealed container in a bin ends up compacted with everything else, which is the opposite of contained.

Do I have to drain the filter, or can I just hand it over?

Drain it. The EPA's wording is to drain and recycle used oil filters, and that properly drained filters can be safely recycled or disposed. An undrained filter is the item collection points most often refuse.

A little coolant got into my drain pan. What now?

Treat it as contaminated and say so. Mixing is what makes a container unacceptable at a collection point, because what you have is no longer used oil. Ring the site, describe exactly what went in, and ask where it should go. Do not top it up with clean used oil hoping to dilute the problem.

Does an auto parts store or a garage have to take my oil?

We are not going to tell you what a particular business where you live is obliged to do, because that varies and getting it wrong wastes your trip. The EPA's own instruction is to check with local automobile maintenance facilities, waste collectors and government waste officials. That check is a phone call.

How should I store used oil until I can drop it off?

Sealed, upright, clearly labelled, out of the sun, away from anything that could ignite it, and out of reach of children and animals. Get rid of it at the next opportunity rather than letting containers accumulate, and if you are storing more than a household quantity, ask your local environmental agency, since the EPA says state rules may be stricter than its own.

About this guide

Published by MotoGearRater. Universal procedure only, with no model-specific specifications. This guide has not been reviewed by a qualified motorcycle technician, and we say so rather than implying a review that has not happened. Read our editorial standards.