COVER STORY
ROSE Foundation highlights the environmental risks many businesses overlook Used oil is one of the most common hazardous waste streams generated by South African businesses. Managing it responsibly prevents pollution, supports resource recovery and keeps valuable materials in use for longer.
S outh African businesses generate millions of litres of used oil every year. Most never think about it after it leaves their premises. Yet used lubricating oil is classified as hazardous waste, and just one litre has the potential to contaminate up to one million litres of water. From transport fleets and workshops to factories, mines and farms, how that oil is stored, collected and recycled matters. For more than 30 years, the ROSE Foundation (Recycling Oil Saves the Environment) has worked with industry to ensure used oil is collected and managed
A problem hiding in plain sight Used oil is one of the most common waste streams generated by businesses that rely on vehicles, machinery and equipment. Yet it rarely attracts the same attention as energy consumption, emissions or water use. According to the ROSE Foundation, approximately 350 million litres of lubricating oil are sold in South Africa each year. Around 150 million litres eventually
For more than 30 years, the ROSE Foundation has worked with industry to ensure used oil is collected and managed responsibly.
become used oil, with roughly 120 million litres considered collectable for recycling. Those figures highlight the scale of the challenge – but also the opportunity. Every litre that is collected and recycled responsibly is one less litre that could contaminate soil, groundwater and waterways. "Most businesses would never deliberately pour used oil
responsibly. Established in 1994, the organisation serves as the lubricants industry's Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) scheme and has helped keep more than 1.5 billion litres of used lubricant oil out of the environment.
8 MODERN MINING www.modernminingmagazine.co.za | SEPTEMBER 2026
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