U.S. Lubricant Contaminated HDPE Container Waste Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Application (Industrial, Automotive, Aerospace), By Container Size (0-30 Liters, 30-50 Liters), By Plastic Use, By States, And Segment Forecasts, 2022 - 2030

Report Overview

The U.S. lubricant contaminated HDPE container waste market volume was 137.39 kilotons in 2021 and is expected to expand at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 3.6% from 2022 to 2030. The automotive industry contributes significantly to the consumption and growth of the U.S. lubricant contaminated HDPE container waste market. Various lubricants such as brake fluids, gear oil, engine oil, and others are used in traditional automobiles to maintain engine quality and high performance in long term. Furthermore, the rise in disposable income and increasing requirements of middle-class families across the country has resulted in an increase in demand for vehicles, which has boosted the demand for HDPE-based oil containers and hence has boosted the requirement for recycling lubricant contaminated HDPE containers.

The rise in the production of automobiles has led to excel the consumption of maintenance products such as engine oil, transmission fluid, grease, and penetrating lubricants. The growing automobile is expected to augment the lubricant contaminated HDPE container market, hence has boosted the requirement of recycling lubricant contaminated HDPE containers over the forecast period.

The U.S. government has passed numerous regulations to improve the storage and handling of lubricants at a domestic level for environmental protection. For instance, in June 2022, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) sustainable materials management initiated a comprehensive procurement guideline program under section 6002 of the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act (RCRA). This program promotes a systematic approach to reducing materials use and other environmental impacts over the materials’ entire life cycle.

However, in the U.S., approximately 41.1% of plastics including polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) containers, and polyvinyl chloride (PVC) pipes are recycled annually. However, there is a high proportion of plastic waste that goes into landfills, in incinerators or ends up polluting the environment. Single-use plastics that are difficult to recycle since they are a composition of mixed materials/multi-polymers, and are contaminated or polluted from use, are regarded mostly as unmanaged waste.

U.S. is one of the major automotive markets across the US. and is expected to witness significant demand for recycling HDPE-based oil containers in lieu of increasing awareness among consumers regarding the benefits of vehicle maintenance is expected to drive their consumption over the forecast period.

Application Insights

The automotive application segment led the market and accounted for more than 77.0% share of the global revenue in 2021. Rising sales of commercial vehicles used for public transport are expected to propel the demand for commercial automotive lubricants that will drive the U.S. lubricant contaminated HDPE container waste market. Economic growth in the U.S. coupled with rising consumer awareness regarding pollution caused by an increasing number of on-road vehicles has led to the improvement of public transportation. Furthermore, increasing construction and renovation activities in the U.S. and the consequent rise in the sales of heavy-duty construction machinery such as bulldozers, cranes, earthmoving equipment, and concrete mixers are expected to complement the demand for heavy-duty automotive lubricants.

Container Size Insights

Greater than 50 liters container dominates under container size segment and accounted for more than 54.0% share of the total volume of the market in 2021. Greater than 50 liters of lubricant HDPE containers are considered large-sized containers and easy to recycle. These types of containers are precisely engineered arrays of full and half-open-top containers. These containers are ideal for storing fluids or other products. Greater than 50 liters of lubricant HDPE containers are manufactured using quality-approved raw materials (HDPE) and advanced technologies in the presence of reliable experts. These containers are usually bought by customers with designated spaces for their storage. Manufacturers of these containers often customize their sizes according to the requirements of their customers. The size of these containers may range up to 500 liters. Moreover, greater than 50 liters of HDPE containers are primarily used in the industrial sector, which helps to excel the demand for these containers.

Plastic Use Insights

The recycled plastic use segment led the U.S. lubricant contaminated HDPE container waste market and accounted for more than 96.0% share of the U.S. volume in 2021. Recycling is more economical and beneficial than re-use a lubricant contaminated HDPE container because lubricant Contaminated HDPE Container is reused by cleaning the container using a sponge to clean the inside thoroughly and outside of the container with warm water and soap, liquid CO2, and dry CO2. The various cleaning techniques with aqueous, non-aqueous solvents and supercritical fluids for re-use, are considered expensive and generate additional waste. However, by recycling process manufacturers can easily remold it in any size as per their demand size, and the property of the product can also be enhanced by adding additives to it. Hence, manufacturers prefer to recycle over reuse.

States Insights

The production of recycled HDPE across the U.S. is mainly concentrated in states including California, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Illinois, and others. Among these states California dominates under states segment and accounted for more than 9 % share of the total volume of the U.S. along with a higher CAGR in the year 2021, due to the rapid usage of recycled plastics in automotive applications is anticipated to boost the demand for HDPE containers for lubricant storage in California specifically due to the implementation of environmental regulation policies which limit the disposal of plastics in landfills. 

Key Companies & Market Share Insights

The U.S. lubricant contaminated HDPE container waste market is fragmented in nature with the presence of several key players, such as Consolidated Container Company, Nye Lubricants, Inc., Scholle Ipn Corporation, Greif, Inc., Martin Operating Partnership L.P., Mauser Group B.V., Milford Barrel, BWAY Corporation, Rahway Steel Drum Company, Inc., Container Distributors, Inc., Jakacki Bag & Barrel, Inc., KSCI Container Services, CKS Packaging, Inc., Polycon Industries, Inc., Trico Corporation., Encore Container, and SCHÜTZ Container Systems among others. The players face in the U.S. face intense competition at country level as well as from other North American players, who have good knowledge about suppliers and regulations with well-built distribution networks. 

The companies in the market compete based on product quality offered and the technology used to produce lubricant HDPE container. However, established players compete based on products that have wider scope of application and new technologies used in product formulations. Major companies are investing in the development of innovative and sustainable solutions for formulating new and advanced products that give them an edge over their competitors. For instance, in April 2022, Encore Container, one of the leading companies of plastic containers/drums announced that the company will diversify its product portfolio by starting the production of 77-gallon plastic containers/drums in January to serve new customers in the market. Moreover, the company will go with more expansion in the coming years. Some prominent players in the U.S. lubricant contaminated HDPE container waste market include:

• Consolidated Container Company

• Nye Lubricants, Inc.

• Scholle Ipn Corporation

• Greif, Inc.

• Martin Operating Partnership L.P.

• Mauser Group B.V.

• Milford Barrel

• BWAY Corporation

• Rahway Steel Drum Company, Inc.

• Container Distributors, Inc.

• Jakacki Bag & Barrel, Inc.

• KSCI Container Services

• CKS Packaging, Inc.

• Polycon Industries, Inc.

• Trico Corporation.

• Encore Container

• SCHÜTZ Container Systems 

U.S. Lubricant Contaminated HDPE Container Waste Market Report Scope

U.S. Lubricant Contaminated HDPE Container Waste Market Segmentation 

This report forecasts volume growth at country levels and provides an analysis of the latest industry trends in each of the sub-segments from 2019 to 2030. For this study, Grand View Research has segmented the U.S. lubricant contaminated HDPE container waste market report based on application, container size, plastic use, states:

• U.S. Lubricant Contaminated HDPE Container Waste Market Application Outlook (Volume, Kilotons, 2019 - 2030)

  • Industrial

  • Automotive

  • Aerospace

• U.S. Lubricant Contaminated HDPE Container Waste Market Container Size Outlook (Volume, Kilotons, 2019 - 2030)

  • 0-30 Liters

  • 30-50 Liters

  • Greater than 50 Liters

• U.S. Lubricant Contaminated HDPE Container Waste Market Plastic Use Outlook (Volume, Kilotons, 2019 - 2030)

  • Re-Use

  • Recycle

• U.S. Lubricant Contaminated HDPE Container Waste Market States Outlook (Volume, Kilotons, 2019 - 2030)

  • Alabama

  • California

  • Colorado

  • Connecticut

  • Hawaii

  • Illinois

  • Kentucky

  • Maine

  • Maryland

  • Missouri

  • New Jersey

  • New York

  • Oregon

  • Pennsylvania

  • Rhode Island

  • South Carolina

  • Vermont

  • Virginia

  • Washington

  • West Virginia

  • Massachusetts

  • Rest of the USA