AS PART OF WASTE MINIMIZATION EFFORTS, THE TORrance refinery began a program for recycling office and warehouse consumables in 1992. Recycled materials include aluminum cans, white paper, cardboard, wood, and computer paper.
With the exception of wood, these materials have provided rebates of as much as $4,000/year and have diverted more than 60 tons of materials from landfills. Mobil uses the proceeds from the recycling effort to fund its on site recreational area and park.
The program was expanded last year to include fluorescent light tubes and laserjet printer cartridges.
Because they contain mercury, fluorescent lights cannot be disposed of in landfills. The refinery, therefore, ships used fluorescent light tubes to a recycling facility, where they are separated into lamp powders, glass, and metal parts. Mercury is recovered from the lamp powders and recycled. The powders are then landfilled, while the metal and glass are recycled.
The process produces mercury of a quality suitable for commercial reuse, according to Sparks.
Laserjet printer cartridges likewise are prohibited from disposal in landfills because of their toner powders. A recycler recovers the powder residue in the used cartridges, then blends and resells it. The cartridges can be reworked in this manner as many as five times before they are retired and their plastic and metal components recycled.
The remanufactured cartridges have been tested in several high-use laser printers in the refinery, where they have proven to be both reliable and economical.
Copyright 1994 Oil & Gas Journal. All Rights Reserved.
