Cleanaway Rutherford Waste Oil Collection Facility

Highlights

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  Australia’s largest oil recycler
  Refining over 150 million litres of used oil per year.

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  An industry standard in oil re-refinement
  Australia’s first hydrogenation facility producing virgin-quality base oil from end-of-life lubricants.

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  Closing the loop on oil waste

  Supporting transition to a circular economy by reducing reliance on crude oil.

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  Nationwide infrastructure and logistics

  Servicing over 35,000 workshops and businesses across Australia.

About Cleanaway Rutherford Waste Oil Collection Facility

Located in Rutherford and serving the Central Coast, Hunter Valley, and North Coast regions, the Cleanaway Rutherford Waste Oil Collection Facility is a cornerstone of sustainable waste oil management. We collect and re-refine over 150 million litres of used oil annually, helping offset Australia’s oil needs by nearly 900,000 barrels each year.

As Cleanaway’s flagship refining facility under the national Product Stewardship for Oil (PSO) program, the Rutherford refinery is the first in Australia to achieve Category 1 status, showcasing premium standards in oil recycling and environmental stewardship. It features a state-of-the-art hydrogenation process to transform waste oil into high-quality lubricant base oils, offering a true circular solution for waste hydrocarbons.

What we process

Our Category 1 Rutherford oil refinery collects used and contaminated oil and converts it into:

Once collected, waste is consolidated into economically viable volumes that are transported to licenced processing sites for treatment and recycling. These facilities follow a sophisticated process to transform the waste oil into valuable fuel, giving it a second life.

How it works

The Rutherford facility is an EPA-licensed treatment centre that features used oil generators, consolidated storage, and safe, compliant and low-risk operations.

1. We collect used oil directly from workshops, mines, manufacturing plants, and other businesses across Rutherford, the Hunter Valley, Central Coast, and beyond. Our fleet is equipped for both bulk and small-volume collections, including drums, intermediate bulk containers (IBCs), and pit pump-outs.
2. Collected oil is securely transported to our Rutherford facility in specialised tankers and containers, ensuring no spills or contamination during transit.
3. Using Australia’s first hydrogenation re-refining technology for lubricating oils, the waste oil undergoes a high-pressure chemical process that removes impurities, odours, and colour. This produces virgin-quality base oils suitable for blending into new lubricants.
4. To ensure quality standards are met, incoming waste oil feedstock, in-process oil streams and final re-refined base oil (RRBO) products are rigorously tested.
5. As a certified trackable waste transporter, systems are in place to electronically track waste oil disposal, ensuring the highest standards of safety and regulatory compliance.

Benefits for councils and businesses

• Provides customers with convenient access to reliable and sustainable oil recycling services thanks to a nationwide collection network of over 35,000 workshops and businesses.
• Delivers a cost-effective and more sustainable alternative for industrial energy needs through replacing virgin crude oil inputs.
• Offers tailored services and safe disposal solutions for customers across a range of industries, from automotive workshops to mine sites.
• Supports customers’ sustainability targets and aligns with government priorities for resource recovery and responsible waste management, thanks to its closed-loop oil recovery model.