In a previous article I discussed the Used Oil Management Standard of the US EPA found at 40 CFR 279.  It allows you to manage a Used Oil according to a reduced regulatory burden even if it has the characteristics of a hazardous waste:

Characteristic Hazardous Waste:

• D001 for Ignitability
• D002 for Corrosivity
• D003 for Reactivity
• D004 – D043 for Toxicity

WITH ONE EXCEPTION you may not manage your waste according to the Used Oil Standard if any of the following are true:

1. The Used Oil is determined to be a listed hazardous waste per 40 CFR 261, Subpart D.  See below for guidance on how you may rebut the presumption of your Used Oil being a listed hazardous waste.
2. The Used Oil has been mixed with a Listed Waste.
3. The Used Oil has been mixed with a characteristic hazardous waste and the resulting mixture exhibits any of the characteristics of a hazardous waste.  However, if a D001 Ignitable hazardous waste is mixed with a Used Oil it may still be managed as a Used Oil even if the resulting mixture exhibits the characteristic of Ignitability.

Read more about Mixtures of Used Oil and Hazardous Waste.

The exception referred to above applies to a Conditionally Exempt Small Quantity Generator (CESQG) of hazardous waste.  What this means is that a CESQG may mix any hazardous waste (listed or characteristic) with a Used Oil and manage the resulting mixture as a Used Oil (fb 14627).  This exception is not available to Large Quantity Generators and Small Quantity Generators of hazardous waste.

If the mixture contains >1,000 ppm total halogens, then it is subject to the Rebuttable Presumption regulations of the Used Oil Standard.  In this case the Presumption may be rebutted by the demonstration that the mixture is an excluded CESQG Used Oil mixture subject to §261.5(j) and §279.10(b)(3).

So, can a CESQG combine all of its hazardous waste (listed and characteristic) with its Used Oil and manage the resulting mixture according to the reduced regulatory requirements of the Used Oil Standard?  Yes.  Do I recommend this practice?  No.  Your State Agency and your Used Oil recycler may not be too crazy about it either.  In the final, it is your decision and responsibility as the generator of the waste to determine the applicable regulations and to comply with them.  My training, both US EPA Hazardous Waste Personnel and US DOT HazMat Employee, will help you to identify the applicable regulations and what you must do to maintain compliance.