Background In the Western Region of Romania, the most industrialized part of the country, the consumption of lube oil is estimated at 2000 tons/year, but global statistical information regarding the quantities of used oil has not yet been developed. Of the total, about 457 tons are used every year as base lube stock in Caras-Severin County. In this district, in the course of 1999, not even one ton was dispatched to a used oil re-refinery and nobody knew exactly the quantity processed as industrial fuel. Around 60 percent of the pollution in waterways of Romania is caused by used motor oil. Many major watercourses with trans-border importance are polluted by used oil in the Western Region of Romania: Mures, Timis and Jiu Rivers and down to the Danube River. In addition, there is no programme in this area for avoiding contamination of the environment with hazardous waste and nobody is in charge of uncontrolled storage or disposal of the used oil. Objectives The objective of the project was to set up a pilot system for collecting, storing and processing used oil in Caras Severin County. The project promotes an alternative to the illegal disposal of used oil by establishing a countywide collection network and a delivery solution by railway to the nearest treatment installation (Ramnicu Sarat Refinery, 639 km away by rail) or to be consumed as burner fuel in industrial applications that burn used oil efficiently, safely and reliably. The project proposes not only management of the used oil but also aims, for the first time in the country, to inform the public and motivate them to recycle used oil. The project will monitor the quantities of used oil in this area and the proper process of storage for all collected, recycled or refined liquids, in order to meet all government regulations. Results Before 2001, drivers from the Western Region of Romania, who changed their motor oil on their own, generated each year about 0.4 million to 1 million litres of used oil. Not even one percent of this used oil was being recycled in the year when the project started. Meanwhile, industrial activity in the region generates about 1 million litres of used oil annually, but none of this quantity was being recycled. Relevant results of the project are as follows: - After project implementation the pollution with oil contaminants of waterways decreased by 30% (period 1999-2004) and this should continue to fall in the coming years. - About 100 tons of used oil can be delivered now monthly to the refinery or burned safely in hot-fired air furnaces. - 90% of the industrial facilities were monitored; - 95% of unauthorized storehouses of used oil were closed; - the quantities of used oil dispatched for re-refinery from the Region increased from an insignificant quantity to 500 tons in 2003; - the database of quantities and generators of used oil is in place and is updated periodically; - more than 20 collection points at PECO stations already exist; - a Central Station to store the used oil prior to its delivery to the refineries is operational (40-tons capacity and equipped with leakage sensors).