WELCOMING REMARKS E. Ambler Director National Bureau of Standards Good morning, and welcome to the second conference on recycled oil. at the first conference, we had 69 registrants; today there are over 170. growth is a strong indication of the increasing interest in recycled oil. Last year, Recycled oil reminds me of those immortal words of Coleridge about water, water, everywhere. We have used oil everywhere--in factories, filling stations, and in the backyards of do-it-yourself auto mechanics. What we need is the wisdom and the will to make use of this ready resource. This situation is like the young man who was complaining after his first day as a piano mover. The boss said, "When I told you you could have the job, I never said it was going to be easy." Well, we, too, have a job. As you know, the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 gave the National Bureau of Standards (NBS) the task of developing test procedures for evaluating re-refined oil. We never thought this job was going to be easy, and it isn't. There are some formidable technical problems involved, problems that are now being studied in our laboratories. As you will hear in detail later, we are making substantial progress and will forward test procedures for recycled oil used as burner fuel to the Federal Trade Commission next spring. This is just one aspect of our program, as there are many other fundamental questions to be answered. One of the more pressing of these questions is that of the data base required to establish substantial equivalence of re-refined to virgin motor oil. This, like most of the questions concerning re-refined oil, is not one that the NBS can answer by itself. We have convened this meeting not only to let you know what we have accomplished during the year, but also to ask your assessment of our work and your help in determining what needs should be addressed. We at the NBS take our work on recycled oil very seriously. As I said, it is a tough technical problem, and we do enjoy a challenge. The development of test procedures will pave the way for substantial reuse of oil, which will help preserve the environment, conserve a natural resource, and save money. No one can argue with those benefits. But there is another less concrete benefit that will result from greater recycling of oil. And that benefit falls in the area of public attitude. We have been a nation of prodigal sons--and daughters--using resources with no thought for tomorrow. Turning this attitude around will be difficult, no question about it. But one way to do it is through programs such as recycled oil that have a sound technical basis and that permit widespread participation. Again, this is not something that the NBS can do alone, but it is an important outgrowth of our mutual efforts. Thanks again for coming here today, and we look forward to the contributions you will make. National Bureau of Standards Special Publication 556. Proceedings of a Workshop on Measurements and Standards for Recycled 011- II held at NBS, Gaithersburg, Maryland, November 29 and 30, 1977. (Issued September 1979) CONFERENCE OBJECTIVES AND THE NBS RECYCLED OIL PROGRAM Donald A. Becker Recycled Oil Program Institute for Materials Research National Bureau of Standards In my presentation this morning I would first like to describe the objectives of this second National Bureau of Standards (NBS) Conference on Measurements and Standards for Recycled Oil, and then I would like to briefly describe the NBS Recycled Oil Program and its efforts with regard to test procedures for recycled oil. This conference has three important objectives. The first objective is to report on the NBS efforts to date. As most of you know, Phase I of the NBS program is on test procedures for used oil recycled as fuel. In addition to the NBS work, which will be discussed in detail later this morning, there are a number of people from other organizations who will discuss programs they are involved with on nonlubricating end uses for used oil, including using it as fuel. The second objective of this conference is to discuss topics and plans of interest for Phase II of the NBS Recycled Oil Program, which is test procedures for used oil recycled as engine oils. On this subject, the conference will contain presentations on recent legislation and studies, reports on programs to examine various aspects of the recycling processes and products, and a panel discussion on the topic of "substantial equivalency." Finally, a very important objective of this conference that should not be underestimated is to bring together in one place the people who are involved with all the various aspects of lubricating oil: the producers, the testers, the users, the recyclers, and the regulators. I feel these are very substantial objectives to expect from any meeting, and I hope that tomorrow afternoon at 1:00 p.m. all of you will feel that these objectives have at least partially been met. I will now briefly discuss the NBS responsibilities in the area of oil recycling. I must apologize to those of you who are already familiar with what I am about to say. However, I feel that with the many new faces in front of me it is important that all of us fully understand the motivation and concern which the NBS has on this subject. There are three areas of legislation which affect the NBS Recycled Oil Program. The initial NBS responsibilities were set forth in the Energy Policy and Conservation Act of 1975 [Public Law 94-163, Section 383 (c); 42 U.S.C. 6363(c)]. The Resource Conservation and Recovery Act of 1976 (Public Law 94-580; 42 U.S.C. 6901 et seq.), in section 6002, established a deadline for the initiation of mandatory Federal procurement of recycled oil, and also mandated the revision of exclusionary clauses in U.S. Government procurement specifications. Finally, the Model (States) Used Oil Recycling Act, sponsored by the Federal Energy Administration (now the Department of Energy), has been introduced into a number of State legislatures. I will briefly discuss each of these areas of legislation and how they affect the NBS Recycled Oil Program, which is addressing the problem of test procedures and standards for recycled oil. In the Energy Policy and Conservation Act, the purposes of the recycled oil section were stated as (1) to encourage recycling of used oil, (2) to promote the use of recycled oil, (3) to reduce the consumption of new oil, and (4) to reduce the environmental hazards from disposal of used oil. It is well known that there are serious environmental problems due to improper disposal practices with used oil, including widespread contamination by the high heavy-metal concentrations found' in used oil, by the polynuclear aromatic content of used oil, and by the basic petroleum hydrocarbons themselves. This act specifically directs the NBS to develop test procedures which can be used to establish the "substantial equivalency" of recycled oil products with virgin oil products. These tests are to be developed for all end uses, and each set of test procedures for a separate end-use category will be transmitted as a package to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which will utilize them for development of trade regulation rules. |