Oil to green containers
Collecting domestic oil is not new. In many municipalities there is one or two vans that collect domestic oil. However, this service has certain limitations. In fact, boats filled with used oil should be carried on a limited schedule and to a specific location. The service offers few facilities and its results are representative. Most of the used oil is still poured into the sink, being very little collected and used.
In order to solve this problem, Mondragon Unibertsitatea developed a novel and comfortable system of recycling used domestic oil. Along with the containers of organic waste, paper and cardboard and plastic were installed new containers of green color. "In Arrasate there are already 7 containers of this type located in strategic places of the municipality," explains Felix Zugasti, responsible for the project. Users bring the oil containers they have in their house to the container (previously the City of Arrasate distributed a container in each house). In the container you can leave a container with used oil and operate a crank to catch a clean container.
"The mechanism of this container is completely mechanical from the point of view of engineering," said Zugasti. "This mechanism is equipped with a rotary system in which containers are falling to level. On each level there are 30 containers. A shovel or lever pushes these containers one by one and they fall by gravity," he adds. Each oil has a collection capacity of one liter of oil and a container of 174 liters.
1 liter of oil = 1 liter of biofuel
Once the container warehouse is filled, the collecting company Ecogras is responsible for collecting containers containing used oil. It is subsequently treated and used for biofuel production. Biofuel producers are able to extract approximately one liter of vegetable oil. It cannot be said that all the oil that is recycled becomes biodiesel, but in large part yes.
The aim of these new containers is to facilitate the recycling of used domestic oil. This will allow more people to recycle. In fact, it is more convenient to carry the oil whenever you want or when you can to these containers than to adapt it to a specific schedule once or twice a month.
The City of Arrasate has been using this recycling system in the municipality for two years. Thanks to this, they have managed to multiply by five the oil that is recycled annually. Only in Arrasate have gone from collecting 5,000 liters a year to collecting 25,000 liters. More and more people are bringing used oil to green containers. According to experts, these containers have been very popular among the population.
The container was designed two years ago by six students of the Polytechnic School of Mondragon Unibertsitatea. It is the result of a research project in which various Basque institutions (Provincial Councils and Municipalities) follow closely to analyze the possibility of using them in their municipalities. The possibility of industrializing the product for subsequent national and international marketing is currently being studied.
Now, in collaboration with Fagor, we are working on the prototype of a more sophisticated container of this type. The aim of this new initiative is to design smaller containers of greater capacity. They will equip them not only mechanically but also electronically. In this way, you will be able to know, among other things, the number of containers in the container at any time.
In the near future, therefore, do not be surprised if you find another green container in the streets of your town.
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