Annual Report – 2025
Annual Report Overview
Who We Are
Interchange Recycling—the trade mark and trade name of the British Columbia Used Oil Management Association—is a not-for-profit society that operates a province-wide program dedicated to supporting the collection and recycling of lubricating oil, oil filters, oil containers, antifreeze, and antifreeze containers, from both the do-it-yourself market as well as the commercial and industrial markets.
Our goal is to provide British Columbians with an eco-friendly and cost-effective way to manage program materials by keeping them out of the environment and managing them at end of life. Each year, approximately 50 million litres of used oil and 3 million litres of used antifreeze are collected and responsibly managed through our program.
Through close collaboration with our key stakeholders, Interchange Recycling helps prevent automotive fluids and materials from harming the environment and instead, turns them into something useful. Working together, we’re improving the environmental and economic outcomes of everyone. It’s what we call moving forward through balance.
How We Help
It is becoming increasingly clear that throwing away or dumping oil products not only harms the environment but also wastes a valuable non-renewable resource, unnecessarily. One of the unique features of the Interchange Recycling program is the significant environmental, economic, and social benefits the program delivers. The management of program materials, through partnerships with the registered processors, has the potential to achieve goals and objectives in the areas of sustainability, circular economy, CO2 reductions, carbon offsets, zero waste, and pollution prevention.
Our program and partners are an example of how a regulated EPR (Extended Producer Responsibility) program can support private sector innovation, using proven technologies, to develop economic growth and support a circular economy.
What We Do
Since 2003, Interchange Recycling has operated a BC-wide collection and recycling program for used oil, oil filters, and used oil containers and for used antifreeze and used antifreeze containers since 2011. This program allows all British Columbians to participate, including the do-it-yourself market as well as the commercial and industrial markets.
Interchange Recycling is governed by a Board of Directors with representatives from various sectors, including manufacturing, automotive, retail, local government, and the public at large. Interchange Recycling provides incentives to recyclers to ensure that oil, filters, antifreeze, and containers throughout BC are collected and managed responsibly. The collectors pick up the materials from product collection sites across the province and deliver the used materials to registered processors, where they are processed to a high-quality standard that allows them to be reused or sold as raw material inputs for manufacturing or energy products.
Letter From The Chair
On behalf of the Board of Directors, I am pleased to present Interchange Recycling’s 2025 Annual Report.
This year marked a period of meaningful progress and disciplined growth for our organization. As we continue to evolve, our focus remains clear: delivering effective, reliable recycling systems that protect the environment while supporting the needs of our members and the communities we serve.
In British Columbia, our program continues to demonstrate strong performance and stability. With more than 49 million litres of used oil collected in 2025 and capture rates that exceed regulatory targets, the strength of our system is evident. These results reflect not only the maturity of the program, but also the commitment of our collection network, processors, and partners across the province.
At the same time, 2025 was a year of expansion and transformation. We successfully launched Yukon’s extended producer responsibility program for used oil and antifreeze—our first program outside of British Columbia. This milestone represents more than geographic growth; it reflects the adaptability of our model and our ability to deliver effective stewardship solutions in new and complex environments.
Internally, we made important investments to support this growth. The launch of The Vault, our new digital reporting platform, has improved the experience for our members while strengthening the foundation for future innovation. Built with scalability in mind, this system now supports multiple jurisdictions and represents a key step forward in modernizing our operations.
We also took steps to invest in the future of our industry. Through the introduction of the Tomorrow Grant Scholarship, we are supporting the next generation of environmental and skilled trades professionals.
Throughout all of this, our purpose is unchanged; to ensure used oil, antifreeze, filters, and automotive containers are managed responsibly, kept out of the environment and returned to productive use.
Looking ahead, we remain focused on thoughtful, measured growth. With expanded product scope in British Columbia set to launch in 2026 and continued development across jurisdictions, we are building on a strong foundation while preparing for what comes next.
None of this progress would be possible without the dedication of our members, partners, staff, and Board. Together, we are advancing a system that delivers real results not only for today but into the future.
Brian Ahearn
Board Chair, Interchange Recycling
| 2025 BOARD OF DIRECTORS |
|---|
| 1. Brian Ahearn, Chair Oil Industry |
| 2. Lonnie Cole, Secretary Filter Industry |
| 3. Natalie Zigarlick, Treasurer Public-at-Large |
| 4. Vincent Gauthier Petro-Canada Lubricants Inc. |
| 5. Irfaan Hasham Global Automakers of Canada |
| 6. Dan Higgins Canadian Tire |
| 7. Gord Klassen City of Fort St. John |
| 8. Loulia Kouchaji Honda Canada |
| 9. Wayne Marees Oil Industry |
| 10. David Mazzon Mr. Lube Canada |
Forward Through Balance
At Interchange Recycling, we prevent automotive fluids and materials from entering the environment where they could cause harm and instead turn them into something useful. And more importantly, we balance the industry’s financial health and the health of everyone else. Efficiency, effectiveness, and continuous improvement are the keys to our balance, which means bringing on new partners, more materials, and refining our process.
Our scale never rests. Our balance is never still. People need to move and progress must be made but not at the cost of our planet. Because the only acceptable results are better environmental and economic outcomes for everyone.
For the foreseeable future, we believe the only path is forward through balance.
Product Expansion in British Columbia
Mid-year, Interchange Recycling received approval to expand its product scope in British Columbia to include empty automotive containers, following the BC Ministry of Environment and Park’s own expansion to include these products under extended producer responsibility (EPR) regulation.
With our well-established infrastructure and unique ability to service both residential and industrial, commercial, and institutional (ICI) streams, Interchange was positioned to service the complete needs of members with these additional products through one integrated system. Throughout 2025, our team spent time preparing for this expansion, set to launch in 2026.
We look forward to continuing to work with our members as we work to launch this expanded product scope in 2026.
New Jurisdictions and Global Leadership
Interchange Recycling reached a defining milestone in 2025, transitioning from a provincially focused organization with a single program in British Columbia, to an increasingly international leader in automotive products stewardship.
On August 1, 2025, Interchange successfully launched Yukon’s extended producer responsibility (EPR) program for used oil and antifreeze. This achievement represents significant planning, collaboration, and adaptation, as we worked closely with the territorial government, local businesses, and collection partners to establish a program tailored to the unique realities of the North.
At the same time, Interchange continues to extend its expertise beyond British Columbia, providing advisory support to emerging programs, including Interchange 360 in the United States. These initiatives reflect growing demand for proven stewardship models and underscore the excellent reputation Interchange has earned over the past 22 years.
This expansion has been supported by the continued growth of our team and our active participation in international forums such as the International Lubricant Recycling Summit, where we collaborate with global leaders in our space to advance best practices in recycling used motor oil. We scale our impact, we remain committed to sharing knowledge, fostering collaboration, and contributing to a more circular economy, both at home and abroad.
Advancing Digital Infrastructure Through The Vault
In January 2025, Interchange Recycling successfully launched The Vault, our next-generation reporting portal, initially serving members in British Columbia. Designed to streamline reporting and enhance the user experience for members, The Vault represents a leap forward in improving how members interact with our program.
Built with scalability in mind, The Vault expanded mid-year to support all jurisdictions in which Interchange operates. The launch of The Vault marks the first phase of a broader digital transformation. In 2025, work also began to develop a fully integrated digital claims system, which is set to launch in 2026.
The platform delivers improved efficiency, enhanced data security, and a more intuitive reporting process, to ensure a simplified and reliable system for members. By investing in advanced digital tools, we are ensuring that our systems evolve alongside the needs of our members, delivering greater efficiency today, while building the foundation for continued measured growth and innovation in the years ahead.
Investing in the Next Generation of Recyclers
In 2025, Interchange Recycling introduced The Tomorrow Grant Scholarship – a new initiative designed to support and inspire the next generation of environmental stewards and skilled trades professionals. Through this program, two students were awarded scholarships in recognition of their commitment to sustainability and their pursuit of careers that will shape the future of responsible resource management.
The scholarship reflects a dual focus, offering one grant to a student in an environmental field, and another to a student pursuing automotive trades, where responsible handling of used oil and antifreeze plays a critical role. By engaging both fields, the program acknowledges that a truly circular economy depends on collaboration across disciplines.
Beyond financial support, The Tomorrow Grant represents an investment in awareness, education, and long-term behaviour change. By connecting with younger audiences today, Interchange is helping cultivate the recyclers, innovators, and industry leaders of tomorrow.
Addyson Murphy
Environmental Studies
Maximus Wassenas
Automotive Trades
Communications & Public Outreach
Interchange Recycling’s communications strategy is designed to educate, engage, and inspire action across all audience segments. Spanning the full media spectrum, our approach integrates digital, traditional, and earned media to ensure that British Columbians understand the importance of responsible recycling and can easily access the information they need to participate in the program.
At the core of our outreach is our website, a comprehensive resource that provides FAQs, a recycling centre locator tool, accepted products, and transparency about the recycling journey. To drive traffic and connect users with relevant information, we deploy a targeted search engine marketing (SEM) strategy, ensuring that individuals searching for recycling-related content can easily find what they need. Our digital presence extends across Google Display, YouTube, Meta (Facebook and Instagram), and Reddit advertising. In 2025, we expanded our reach by introducing Snapchat advertising, as well as leveraging a not-for-profit grant from Google to deploy Search advertising.
Using contextual targeting to align our ads with users’ browsing behaviours and interests, our digital advertising in 2025 delivered a more tailored and impactful experience. For example, youth is an audience that shows high environmental concern but lower program awareness, so we included channels like Snapchat and Reddit, with youth targeting parameters in place. Recognizing that males are more likely to engage with our program, we also ran targeted campaigns on The Score sports app to strengthen our connection with this key audience.
Traditional media remained an essential component of our strategy, reinforcing visibility through high-impact transit advertising, including vibrant bus ads and in-car SkyTrain ads that received strong recall in surveys and anecdotal feedback. We ran on-campus advertisements at universities and colleges across the province to target youth. Additionally, we leveraged billboard placements at Mission and Saratoga raceways, effectively reaching motorsports enthusiasts.
Collectively, these efforts in paid media resulted in nearly 65 million impressions in BC in 2025.
Beyond paid media, earned media relations played a crucial role in amplifying our impact. We worked closely with journalists and media outlets to secure coverage across print, broadcast, and online platforms, ensuring that our key messages reached a broad audience. Once again, our boots-on-the-ground ambassador team toured the province and directly engaged with and educated consumers. Through press releases, interviews, media partnerships, and ambassador engagement, we reinforced our leadership in product stewardship and environmental responsibility with a grassroots approach that gave us a direct connection to the communities and citizens who participate in our programs.
By continuously refining our approach and expanding our reach, Interchange Recycling remains at the forefront of public education, ensuring that recycling is accessible, engaging, and top of mind for all British Columbians.
2025 Awareness Campaign:
- Core Campaign: 3 months, August to October
- Year Round: Google Search and Bus Ads
- Channels: Campus Digital Screens, Bus & Skytrain Ads, Radio Sponsorship, Digital Display, YouTube, Paid Social Media, Google Search Ads
- Estimated Reach: 65 million+
Bus Ads
SkyTrain Cards
Social & Digital Ads
YouTube Ads
2025 Public Relations:
2025 Ambassador Tour
Our community engagement team traveled around the province in 2025, attending 17 events and visiting seven Return Collection Facilities between June and July. The Tour helped to increase awareness for our program and inform people of the locations of used oil recycling facilities. The ambassadors interacted with over 2,338 event attendees and captured the visual attention of a potential 100,000+ British Columbians. This year we focused on attending events across the province to engage Interchange Recycling’s target audience, expanding reach, diversifying engagement, and increasing awareness through targeted education.
Consumer Awareness
Since 2003, Interchange Recycling has managed a highly successful program with consistently impressive recovery rates. While a significant portion of the products collected originate from commercial facilities, our communications campaigns primarily target consumers who manage their own oil or antifreeze changes and utilize our extensive network of public recycling centres across the province. In 2025, our annual survey revealed stable awareness metrics, suggesting a mature program and a highly aware audience.
Furthermore, most vehicle-owning British Columbians actively participate in our program without explicit awareness. By patronizing licensed facilities connected to Interchange Recycling’s commercial collection network, they unknowingly contribute to responsible material management and recycling. As part of our ongoing communications strategy, we aim to engage with these program users, affirming their environmentally conscious actions and encouraging continued participation. We’re also committed to educating consumers that by bringing their vehicles to licensed facilities, they are indeed doing the right thing and doing their part to give used oil and antifreeze a new life.
To ensure the efficacy of our efforts and maintain accurate insights into consumer behaviour, Interchange Recycling actively participates in and financially supports the biennial consumer awareness survey conducted by the Stewardship Agencies of BC (SABC). Additionally, we conduct our own annual survey in collaboration with an independent third-party survey provider. Employing comprehensive methodology, both surveys encompass respondents from diverse geographical regions and demographic backgrounds, enabling us to gather robust and reliable data essential for refining our outreach strategies and optimizing program impact.
Key Collaborations
Interchange Recycling works closely in partnership with nine other provincial programs through the National Used Oil Material and Antifreeze Advisory Council (NUOMAAC), a national working group that coordinates the Canada-wide used oil and antifreeze materials recycling effort and encourages national standards. The UOMA industry-led stewardship program model works in close collaboration to achieve environmental, economic, and socio-economic successes across Canada.
Interchange Recycling is proud to have been the first Associate Member of the Indigenous Zero Waste Technical Advisory Group (IZWTAG), a non-profit society dedicated to supporting zero waste systems in all First Nation communities in BC. In 2025, Interchange Recycling worked with IZWTAG to ensure used oil and other program products were safely managed in First Nation communities and responsibly recycled.
Interchange Recycling is an active member of the Stewardship Agencies of British Columbia (SABC), an informal alliance of industry product stewardship organizations. SABC works with the government, service providers and other stakeholders to ensure BC’s extended producer responsibility model is successful and cost effective.
As part of our commitment to provide access to key program information, Interchange Recycling helps fund the Recycling Council of BC’s hotline and Recyclepedia database. Consumers looking for recycling information can call the hotline at 1-800-667-4321 or visit the website at rcbc.ca.
Collection Event Summary
In 2025, Interchange Recycling was proud to provide funding through our grant program to Regional Districts, municipalities, and other groups to support the following community collection events.
May 4 – Creston
Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK)
June 7 – Hazelton
Regional District of Kitimat-Stikine (RDKS)
Sept 13 – Nakusp
Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK)
Sept 24 – Silverton
Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK)
Sept 24 – Castlegar
Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK)
Sept 20/21 – Langley
Township of Langley
Sept 21 – Kaslo
Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK)
Sept 28 – Creston
Regional District of Central Kootenay (RDCK)
These community collection events are a great way for residents to safely return any materials and hazardous waste they have been storing in their homes and are unsure of what to do with it. Interchange Recycling is often one of several stewardship programs participating in the event.
Collection Network Performance
We are very pleased to share that our used oil collection totaled nearly 50 million litres in 2025. This volume is a testament to the continued efforts of all of our partners who help ensure the safe collection of program materials.
Of all the used oil and antifreeze collected in BC, most (93%) is collected from commercial facilities such as service stations, lube shops and large commercial operations (e.g., mining, forestry and agriculture). Our large network of generators operates across nine designated zones in BC and are typically serviced by a registered Interchange Recycling collector that has a service agreement with that facility. The collectors ensure that the only acceptable end uses for materials must be environmentally sound and in compliance with the regulations.
If you get your oil changed at a lube shop or by a mechanic, you are already doing your part to make sure your used oil stays out of the ecosystem. Only a small amount—approximately 7% of the total used oil and antifreeze collected in BC—comes from consumers that change their own oil/antifreeze or small commercial operators that choose to use the free consumer drop-off system.
For consumers that choose to change their own oil or antifreeze, Interchange Recycling has a province-wide network of registered public recycling centres that provide consumers with free access for recycling of program materials.
In 2025, there were 281 publicly accessible recycling centres located in high traffic retail locations, industrial sites, multi-material private depots (bottle depots), and local government recycling/landfill sites. Each year we look to identify areas of the province that need new facilities and work to find a partner in that area to support. Through the awarding of infrastructure grants, Interchange Recycling ensures each facility has the right equipment to manage program materials. In 2025, a total of 13 grants were awarded.
| Year | Number of Facilities |
|---|---|
| 2025 | 281 |
| 2024 | 285 |
| 2023 | 288 |
| 2022 | 289 |
| 2021 | 286 |
| 2020 | 273 |
99.4% of British Columbians currently have reasonable access to a recycling location. Interchange Recycling continues to work with recycling centre operators to ensure all public facilities are safe and secure by providing grants for new infrastructure such as modified sea containers with spill containment, collection tanks, and consumer friendly signs.
Given the low product volumes represented by consumer collection, accessibility to recycling (see Page 30) is considered a more meaningful Interchange Recycling performance measure for this stream than the level of product recovery.
Accessibility
Ensuring that all British Columbians have reasonable access to a registered facility is a key goal for our organization. The Interchange Recycling accessibility standard has been developed to ensure that at least 95% of the BC population has access to a registered facility that accepts program materials. This standard is based on the following model.
| Community Type | Enhanced Service Level (target) |
|---|---|
| a) City, High Industrial | Minimum one facility |
| b) City, Low Industrial | Minimum one facility or one facility within a 15-minute drive |
| c) Town, High Industrial | Minimum one facility |
| d) Town, Low Industrial | Minimum one facility or one facility within a 15-minute drive or collection event |
| e) Village | Minimum one facility or one facility within a 30-minute drive or collection event |
| f) Other | Minimum one facility or one facility within a 30-minute drive or collection event as recommended by IZWTAG |
In addition to our network of publicly accessible recycling centres, we offer mobile collection services and community collection events as a way to ensure reasonable access to our program.
Capture Rates in 2025
Product Collection
With more than 20 years of history working in British Columbia, our product collection numbers consistently exceed the 75% benchmark identified in the Recycling Regulation.
Absolute collection for used oil, antifreeze, and used oil and antifreeze containers increased in 2025 by 4.6%, 3.85%, and 7.58% respectively. While collection for used oil filters decreased by 2.8%. Product sales in 2025 decreased for antifreeze and oil filters by 3.34% and 0.57% respectively while increasing by 2.80% for oil and 9.20% for oil and antifreeze containers.
 Used Oil (Millions of litres) |  Filters (Millions of Units) |  Containers (Millions of Kilograms) |  Used Antifreeze (Millions of Litres) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sold (2025) | 84.3 | 6.0 | 2.0 | 9.5 |
| Consumed in use | (24.7) | n/a | n/a | (5.9) |
| Repurposed | (15.4) | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Available for collection | 44.2 | 6.0 | 2.0 | 3.6 |
| Collected | 49.9 | 5.7 | 1.7 | 2.4 |
| Capture rate* | 113% | 95% | 87% | 66% |
Only a portion of every litre of oil and antifreeze sold is available for recovery because an estimated 29.3% of the oil and 62.1% of the antifreeze is consumed during use and an estimated 26% of oil not consumed in use is re-purposed each year and is not available for collection.
The collection results by Regional District are provided on Page 37.
End Fate for Products Collected
Product Management
Collected products are managed in accordance with the Pollution Prevention Hierarchy as outlined in the BC Recycling Regulation.
Used Oil
Oil previously sold as lubricating oil is collected and re-refined into new lubricating oil. Some oil is collected, transformed, and used as an industrial product. This includes re-refining and use as a fuel for pulp mills, cement kilns, asphalt plants, and other uses that meet the Hazardous Waste Regulation or applicable government standards in other states or provinces, such as for mining explosives or exploration drilling.
Used Antifreeze
Antifreeze previously sold as an antifreeze product is recycled and reused as an antifreeze product. Antifreeze processors are already actively involved in processing used antifreeze to the point where an additive package can be included, and the recycled antifreeze can again be sold as automotive antifreeze.
Used Oil Filters
Metal filters are collected and recycled into other metal products like rebar, nails, and wire. The paper elements are processed through an oil recovery system with the residual being managed in a waste to energy facility to recover the remaining inherent oil.
Used Oil & Antifreeze Containers
Plastic and metal containers are recycled into new plastic and metal products. Interchange Recycling is proud of the fact that both used antifreeze and empty containers are processed and recycled at facilities right here in British Columbia. Managing these products locally provides significant environmental, economic, and social benefits that support our transition to a more sustainable and circular economy.
