Oil Purification Systems, developer and manufacturer of the OPS-1 onboard oil refining system, announced today, Jan. 14, that Casella Waste Systems, a provider of solid waste, recycling and resource management services in the Northeast, has signed an agreement to outfit nearly 850 vehicles in its fleet with the OPS-1 system. Casella expects to significantly extend the time between oil changes on each vehicle, saving time and money on oil maintenance costs, while also minimizing the negative impact to the environment.
“We had looked at a number of solutions for extending the oil life on our vehicles, instead of changing it so frequently,” says Gary Simmons, Casella’s vice president of fleet management. “With each of our vehicles running more than 2,400 hours per year, and often in tough road and weather conditions, we were able to see very quickly the benefits of the OPS-1 system in extending the life of our engines’ oil, and saving the company a substantial amount of money in oil maintenance costs.”
Casella installed multiple evaluation units of the OPS-1 system on trucks in Rutland, Vt., and Auburn, N.Y. Instead of changing the oil on each vehicle every 300 hours the engine ran, Casella analyzed an oil sample once a month to measure 27 different attributes, including various wear metals, viscosity and total base number. After each analysis, all levels were found to be within the normal range for each evaluation vehicle, the company says, and after about 3,400 total hours for all vehicles, the evaluation units still were running without an oil drain. Before using the OPS-1 system, Casella says it typically changed the oil on a vehicle seven or eight times a year, or about every 300 hours.
Casella’s current implementation plans include installing the OPS-1 system on the majority of its trucks. OPS field technicians have begun installing the units at 43 locations, and expect to complete the project in March 2008. Casella also is discussing plans to implement the system on its off-road vehicles in the future. Once the implementation is complete, the company expects to save 200,000 gallons of oil and $600 dollars per vehicle each year. Casella also expects to realize its return on investment in about a year, and over a 10-year period to see a 1,300 percent ROI.
“We are keenly interested in technologies and processes that are built on the idea of resource sustainability and conservation – in short, that save both money and scarce material resources,” says John W. Casella, chairman and chief executive officer of Casella. “When we come across a product like the OPS-1 system, that is not only good for the environment but also has a positive financial impact on the business, it makes perfect sense for us to adopt the technology. The return on our investment was so compelling that it made sense for us to move aggressively to implement the system on all new vehicles and to also retrofit all vehicles less than eight years old.”
“Casella is a company that is well-suited for the OPS-1 system,” says Mitch Weseley, president and CEO of Shelton, Conn.-based OPS-1. “They are constantly striving to implement technologies that are environmentally-friendly and that promote good corporate citizenship. We are pleased to work with a company like Casella that is a leader in providing waste management solutions, while also promoting a healthy environment.”
