Disposing of used oil the wrong way has the potential to pollute land and water, so it is important to recycle as much of it as possible. It takes only one litre of oil to contaminate one million litres of water and one automotive oil change produces up to 5 litres of used oil. Although oil gets dirty, it can still be cleaned and re-used. In fact, recycled oil can be used as an industrial burner fuel, hydraulic oil, incorporated into other products or re-refined back into new lubricating oil.

Like oil, used paint can be recycled. Most often, the highest quality of latex paint is sorted out and turned back into recycled paint that can be used. In many cases, reusable paints of the same color are pumped into a tank where the material is mixed and tested. The paint is adjusted with additives and colorants as necessary. Finally, the paint is fine filtered and packaged for sale. Paint that cannot be reused has other environmentally-friendly uses. Non-reusable paint can be made into a product used in cement manufacturing, thereby recycling virtually 100% of the original paint.