`Education Is The Key' To Selling Eco-Oil

EVERETT

It may not win awards for the most exciting move by local government, but it might be pointing toward the future for millions of motorists.

For more than a year, Snohomish County's fleet of 796 vehicles and equipment have been using recycled motor oil without any problems.

Called re-refined oil and now available to consumers under the brand name Ecogreen, this new type of motor oil may be especially environment-friendly.

Businesses such as Puget Sound Bank and Larry's Markets have converted their fleets of vehicles to Ecogreen products, made by Lilyblad Petroleum, a chemical company in Tacoma that specializes in blending oil products.

Ecogreen may seem new. But it's the same product that Lilyblad has sold for a decade on the other side of the Pacific Rim.

Sold under the name Ecogreen, Lilyblad's re-refined motor oil is attracting interest not only from consumers looking for recycled goods, but also from retail store chains and quick-oil-change centers as a product that meets environmental goals and consumer economic demands.

Al's Auto Supply is selling Ecogreen in 36 of its 48 Washington stores and 20 Precision Tune franchises from Bellevue to Seattle to Lynnwood adopted the product last week and are offering the re-refined oil to customers.

Re-refined oil matches virgin refined oil in all aspects of performance, said Glenn Tegen, president of the 46-year-old company. Lilyblad also blends additives to improve engine performance and Ecogreen meets standards set by the Automotive Petroleum Institute.

The supply of re-refined oil depends on consumers bringing their used motor oil to collection centers. Then companies such as Tacoma-based CleanCare Corp., also headed by Tegen, collect the used motor oil, run tests on the oil and sell it to re-refining centers in Canada and California.

Lilyblad then buys the re-refined base oil, blends it with various additives and sells its packaged product to customers.

Ecogreen sells for $1.34 a quart, about the same price as Pennzoil.

Lilyblad believes the product will become increasingly popular as the public learns about it. He says the main obstacle is suspicion and misunderstanding of the product.

"Education is the key," said Benny Taylor, vice president of sales for CleanCare. "There's a perception that it (re-refined motor oil) is recycled motor oil that someone ran through a cheesecloth or whatever."

Lilyblad has been supplying Pacific Rim countries with the oil for the past 10 years. Recognizing that re-refined motor oil would be a harder sell in the U.S. than elsewhere, Tegen said he still wanted to introduce the product and advance environmental "stewardship" of the community.

Taylor suggested that Washington state is perhaps one of the best places to start.

"In the Northwest, particularly the Puget Sound area, there's a group of people who are definitely environmentally minded, and that's where it's got to start," said Taylor. "It takes time to educate."

Aided by government regulations requiring use of recycled products wherever possible, Lilyblad projects 1992 sales of more than 19,300 gallons of Ecogreen.

Managers at some Al's Auto Supply stores noted that the oil is not selling particularly fast, but suggested that customers are not aware it is available.

"I think it has potential," said Matt Hovind, project coordinator for PACCAR, which owns Al's Auto Supply. "But I think it will be long and slow. Changing people's minds is probably the hardest part."