Helping residents to 'Shift Green'

Steadily, the Shift Green recycling program in Renton, Washington, is growing.

Initiated by the city in 2021 and developed by Seattle-based environmental consultancy Full Circle Environmental, the program aims to raise awareness among residents who perform oil changes on their own vehicles to consider the benefits and requirements of bringing their used motor oil and oil filters to local auto parts stores for recycling.

The program was created in response to a state law that forbids residents from knowingly disposing of used oil, except by delivery to a person collecting it for recycling, treatment or disposal, and mandated each city in the state develop a plan to better manage the resource.

The effort is one of many sustainability initiatives Renton has put in place over the years to maintain a healthy environment and help protect a vital watershed. In particular, the Cedar River runs through the heart of the city as it flows toward Lake Washington and hosts a large salmon population. 

 

“Salmon are very culturally and economically important to the community and protecting them is a message that really resonates with folks who want to safeguard those ecosystems,” says Adam Ellner, project manager and outreach specialist at Full Circle, who has helped overseen Shift Green’s development in Renton.

To underscore the environmental harm caused by improper disposal of used oil and filters, the city’s website cites research noting that 1 gallon of oil can contaminate 1 million gallons of fresh water, or about a year’s supply of water for 50 people. Additionally, the website highlights the benefit of recycling metal oil filters, claiming that recycling all oil filters sold in the U.S. each year would produce 160,000 tons of steel.

The lay of the land

There currently are six establishments in Renton—four O’Reilly Auto Parts stores and two AutoZone stores—where home mechanics can take their used oil and filters for recycling.

Based on oil collection data and observations made by auto parts store staff, Ellner estimates the six 

stores supported by Shift Green collected 38,300 gallons of used oil in the program’s first year (2021-22) and will have collected more than 45,000 gallons in the next program year (2023-24). An estimated 3,315 oil filters were recovered in the program’s first year, and Ellner says the stores are on track to recover 3,925 in the 2023-24 program year.

Shift Green does not include Renton’s auto repair shops, fast lube businesses or dealerships, as early program research determined professional oil change service providers all have systems in place for collecting and recycling used oil and filters.

“The focus of this program is on the do-it-yourself oil changers,” he says. “We’re trying to motivate and encourage a desired behavior. “[We want you to] bring in your used oil and filters. Don’t pour oil down your drain; don’t bury it in your yard; don’t throw it in your trash.”

As a way to empower Renton’s residents to be a part of a regional sustainability effort, the city chose to harmonize its Shift Green program branding with that of neighboring Bellevue, Washington.

“Many do-it-yourself oil changers travel between the two adjacent cities,” Ellner says. “Harmonizing program branding ensures clear and consistent regional messaging and further encourages residents to dispose of hazardous vehicle fluids, such as antifreeze and brake fluid, at the nearby hazardous waste facility in Bellevue.”

Spreading the word

Since Shift Green began, the city of Renton has conducted outreach to auto parts retailers and residents in support of resource conservation and pollution prevention related to automotive wastes.

Ellner visits Renton’s auto parts stores several times per year, for example, to ensure their oil and filter collection infrastructure is operating smoothly and to supply those establishments with point-of-sale information, such as fliers and stickers, that employees can then pass on to the public or attach to store windows.

“What I’ve seen a couple of the stores start to do is take these stickers that are branded with our program logo and say, effectively, ‘remember to bring back your oil filter when you go to buy new oil,’ and put them on the new boxes of oil filters that they have on their shelves,” Ellner says. “There are stores that have reported more filters coming back in the last six months and getting recycled. So, the recycling rates of those stores [utilizing the stickers] are up more around the 15 percent to 20 percent range, whereas some other stores might see one in 100 people bringing their filter back with their used oil.

“[Prompting the desired behavior when DIY customers are purchasing new oil and filters] is definitely a great lesson that we’ve learned, and it’s something that we’re going to encourage other stores to try.”

The city also has gotten the word out about Shift Green’s messaging by publishing a variety of social media pieces through the city’s accounts and by attending various community events. For example, representatives visited the annual Return to Renton Car Show to talk directly with residents and discuss oil and filter recycling, managing hazardous vehicle fluids and addressing vehicle leaks.

“We went to the Return to Renton Car Show in July 2022 and talked with tons of car enthusiasts,” Ellner says. “Sure enough, a lot of them were like, ‘Oh, wow, I didn’t know you could recycle the filter, too. The next time I bring my used oil to O’Reilly or AutoZone I’ll be sure to bring my filter, too.’ It was really great to have those conversations and continue to spread awareness through direct outreach, which we want to keep doing in 2024.”

Room to grow

The city of Renton would like to see the program expanded to other jurisdictions to advance similar sustainability goals, and currently is working to extend Shift Green’s reach within its borders.

Along with Full Circle, the city is exploring the feasibility of a pilot that would focus on encouraging residents at multifamily properties to safely manage used oil and filters, either by taking them to an auto parts store or getting their oil changed by a professional service. Ellner says he is looking into the possibility of building partnerships between professional oil change services and multifamily property managers to distribute oil change discount vouchers for residents, for whom cost might be a barrier.

“If we’re creating a pilot to help residents safely manage their motor oil and filters, let’s also provide them with information on what to do with other vehicle fluids, pesticides, toxic cleaning chemicals and other hazardous wastes to prevent them from going into the natural environment and harming people,” Ellner says.