Registered Generators

If you purchase lubricating oil for use in equipment that you own or operate, you may qualify to register as an “industrial generator” with the California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle). As a registered generator, you are eligible to file claims and receive 16 cents per gallon for all the used lubricating oil that you recycle.

Who Is Eligible? | Become a Registered Generator | Claiming the Incentive | Forms

Who is eligible to be a registered generator?

An industrial generator of used oil is defined as an entity that buys and uses lubricating oil only for equipment owned or used by the entity (Public Resources Code Section 48614). You may be an industrial generator if, as part of your day-to-day business operations:

  1. You use automobiles, buses, trucks, planes, trains, heavy equipment, or other machinery powered by an internal combustion engine.
  2. Your business changes the lubricating oil in these vehicles or heavy equipment.
  3. The used oil is transferred to a certified recycling facility by a used oil hauler.

Entities that change oil in vehicles NOT owned or used by them (e.g., service stations) may become certified collection centers If they accept used oil from the public and offer the incentive.

How do I register?

Private businesses, local governments, or special districts may become registered industrial generators or registered curbside collection programs. To become registered, complete a registration application (see below) and mail it to:

Used Oil Recycling, MS 9A
California Department of Resources Recycling and Recovery (CalRecycle)
PO Box 4025
Sacramento, CA 95812-4025

Registration Application, CalRecycle Form 30.

Once CalRecycle staff have processed your application and notified you that your program has been registered you must submit a recycling incentive reimbursement claim to receive payment of the recycling incentive.

For more information, please use the contact information found at the bottom of this page.

For more information contact: Certified Collection Center, UsedOilCCC@calrecycle.ca.gov or Household Hazardous Waste, UsedOilHHW@calrecycle.ca.gov.