In cases of severe contamination, approved hazardous waste treatment, incineration and landfilling of residual may be necessary. The first component of a recycling program is a successful collection system. Services stations and repair shops that have access to collection systems often do not like to accept offsite-generated oils because of the possibility of contamination and increased collection cost. Although re-refined oils meet performance specifications, they are often mistakenly believed to be inferior to virgin oils. In most provinces, vendors do not have return options on their oils, nor do they assume any responsibility for the fate of their oil.
People are unaware of the environmental impacts of used oils.
The provinces have jurisdictions over used oil management through regulations and guidelines that apply to disposal practices and facilities. The scope of the regulations vary from province to province. The Transportation of Dangerous Goods Act applies to the movement of used oils that have been contaminated with hazardous substances, requiring documentation and safe handling from generator to receiver. The CPPI used this code to prepare the Used Oil Action Plan for the recovery of used oil in Canada. The development of an awareness program to encourage the public to return their used oil instead of disposing of it.