For years, the options were limited to clay-based adsorbents that do little more than pool the liquids but don't really absorb the spill. These products are heavy, non-renewable, and pose certain health risks. In recent years, oil and other liquid absorbent pads have entered the market making it easier to clean up spills, but with varying degrees of effectiveness and cost-efficiency. There are numerous products out there but to make a fair comparison, you should look carefully at the following factors:
1. Price to Absorbency Ratio
2. Durability of Product
3. Material Size Flexibility
2. Durability of Product
3. Material Size Flexibility
Simply put, you're better off spending a bit more for a highly absorbent roll or set of oil spill pads that you can keep around for a while and have on hand in case a spill occurs. Also, if the pads don't absorb much relative to their size, then you'll have to use a lot of material even for the most minor spill and that will end up costing you more. Finding the right balance of price, absorbency and flexible pad sizes should be key factors in your decision making.
But there's one more very important factor that should enter your decision making: How environmentally friendly are the oil absorbent pads and products that you are using. In this day and age of greater environmental controls, regulations and restrictions, the more eco-friendly you can make your operation, the better off you'll be. Using eco-friendly oil absorbent pads is an "easy" and "cost-effective" way to get more value for your buck.
Eco-friendly oil-only and universal absorbent pads are becoming easier to find. A growing number of environmentally friendly oil absorbent and other hydrocarbon liquid absorbent pads are available with various ranges of price and absorbency. These eco-friendly oil products should be made from renewable sources and/or waste products. Some of these products are also recyclable which gives them added value. We tend to equate, environmentally friendly with less effective or cost-efficient, however, when it comes to cleaning up oil spills with eco-friendly pads this is no longer the case. Oftentimes, the environmentally friendly oil absorbent product options have much higher price/absorbency ratios than competing non-renewable versions and are available in various options that can absorb different types of liquids such as oil, gasoline, paint, hydraulic fluid and the like. Look for products that have been proven in the market and that clearly demonstrate their effectiveness and commitment to environmental responsibility.
To learn more search the web for eco-friendly oil absorbent pad options or talk to your oil and gas products distributor or oil spill cleanup professional about eco-friendly oil spill options to get better oil spill and general spill clean up results with an environmentally-friendly checkmark on top.
Thomas Bourne, CEO, Terrenew LLC. Terrenew, in affiliation with Cornell University, manufactures and sells OilMaster Eco-Friendly Oil Absorbent Products are available in Granular Oil Absorbent and Oil Absorbent Pad versions. To learn more, please visit http://www.terrenew.com |
