Written question asked by Tom Levitt (Labour) on Tuesday, 2 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 4 March 2010. It was answered by Dan Norris (Labour) on Tuesday, 9 March 2010 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Oils: Waste Disposal

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether his Department has undertaken a life cycle assessment of re-refining waste oils into lubricants by (a) burning waste oils as recovered fuel oil in European Waste Incineration Directive-compliant plants and (b) other means of disposal of waste oils.

Answer: DEFRA has not commissioned specific studies on the life cycle assessment of re-refining waste oils into lubricants. However, we are aware of the following life cycle studies conducted by others:"Ecological and energetic assessment of re-refining used oils to base oils: Substitution of primarily produced base oils including semi-synthetic and synthetic compounds:""http://www.geir-rerefining.org/documents/LCA_en_short_version.pdf""OECD Improving Recycling Report ENV/EPOC/WGWPR(2005)3/FINAL:""http://www.oecd.org/dataoecd/24/14/35582045.pdf""Critical Review of Existing Studies and Life Cycle Analysis on the Regeneration and Incineration of Waste Oils:""http://ec.europa.eu/environment/waste/studies/oil/waste_oil_xsum.pdf"

Secondary information