Best Oil Absorbent Solutions for Industry – Compare Programs
Are you in search of the best oil absorbent solution to handle the leaks, drips, and spills at your facility? From t-shirts to kitty litter to mats and pads, there are many oil absorbent options readily available.
In this article, we’ll compare the three most common solutions. We’ll help you choose an absorbent solution that will maximize performance, environmental impact, and cost. Below, you’ll see that we ranked each of the top three solutions from 1 to 5 in each of these categories.
Let’s get started and see which one came out on top.
Types of Absorbent Materials
Here are some of the most common absorbent materials:
- Reusable oil absorbents (cotton & other natural fibers)
- Absorbents made of recycled or eco-friendly material
- Disposable oil absorbent mats, pads, socks
- Clay pellets (also known as kitty litter or oil dry)
- Cardboard
- T-shirts, rags
- Sawdust
What’s the difference between recycled and reusable oil absorbents?
Absorbent Applications
Different absorbent materials may be used for different absorbent applications. For example, some absorbents are designed to absorb oil only. Some absorbents may be used for hazardous liquids, while others are for non-hazardous liquids only. Here are a few examples of how absorbents can serve different purposes in your facility:
- Oil only absorbents (for use on water or outdoors)
- Oil absorbent mats for walkways (for use in slippery walkways)
- Chemical absorbents (for absorbing hazardous material)
- Ergonomic oil mats (for workstations near oily machines)
- Heat-sealed absorbents – the material is heat-sealed to prevent metal chips from getting in the absorbent (for use around metal cutting machines)
- Quilted absorbent padding – Extremely durable and versatile absorbent pads (under tools, near the source of leaks)
- Absorbent socks – Snake-like absorbents (wrap around machines for secondary containment)
In this article, we compare the three most common absorbents in this list: clay pellets, disposable oil absorbent pads, and reusable oil absorbent pads.
Cost
When you look at absorbent costs, look beyond the initial purchase price. For example, while kitty litter is the cheapest to buy, it comes with hidden costs of cleanup time and disposal.
Clay Pellets, Kitty Litter
Single-Use Absorbents
Kitty Litter
Cheapest to purchase, but they come with hidden costs – labor-intensive cleanup, the risk of causing long-term employee respiratory problems, and the environmental cost of sending the pellets to landfill.
Single-Use
Cheap to buy, expensive to discard. Special waste handling for single use absorbents can range anywhere from $30 a drum to upwards of $275. Incineration typically starts at $80 a drum, and goes up from there. The variance is due primarily to geography.
Reusable
May initially seem more expensive than disposables because they include full-service benefits of pick-up, delivery, and laundering. But because of the increased absorbency and elimination of disposal costs, reusable absorbents are typically lower in cost.
To see the cost difference, try the SorbIts® Savings Calculator.
Absorbency
A more absorbent product will require fewer change-outs and can improve housekeeping. Fewer change-outs means your employees will spend less time managing absorbents and more time producing!
Clay Pellets, Kitty Litter
Single-Use Absorbents
Kitty Litter
Clay is not actually absorbent – it’s adsorbent (non-porous). The difference is that with adsorption, the liquid forms a layer on the outside of the surface instead of moving inside an object.
Single-Use
More effective than oil dry
Reusable
Reusable absorbents are extremely durable and absorb more fluid volume because they are designed to withstand industrial laundering. In absorbency testing, they absorb 2-3 times more than disposables, requiring significantly fewer absorbents to get the job done.
Environmental Impact
A more sustainable solution also leads to cost efficiencices by eliminating the cost of manifesting and special waste handling.
Clay Pellets, Kitty Litter
Single-Use Absorbents
Kitty Litter
Bottom of the sustainability pyramid. The soiled pellets go directly from a customer’s facility into the landfill, waste-to-energy, or incineration. While incineration is preferred to landfill, incineration still generates emissions and waste.
Single-Use
Bottom of the sustainability pyramid. The soiled absorbents go directly from a customer’s facility into the landfill, waste-to-energy, or incineration. While incineration is preferred to landfill, incineration still generates emissions and waste. Infographic: Waste Options for Single Use Towels and Absorbents
Reusable
Resue is the most sustainable option, as it’s a true Zero Waste to Landfill solution.
For more on disposal options and costs, check out our blog article: How to Dispose of Used Rags and Oil Absorbents.
And the Winner is…
The best overall oil absorbent solution is reusable absorbents. Reusable oil absorbents outperform single-use absorbents, recycled absorbents, and oil dry in cost, absorbency, and sustainability, with the exception of clay or oil-dry being cheaper to purchase.
All of these options do a fair job of preventing slips and spills. However, if you are conducting a 5S or lean project, you are looking to reduce facility costs, or you want to reduce your landfill liability, consider a reusable oil absorbent solution from ITU AbsorbTech for your leaks, drips, and spills.
Company News
- Tee Up Fore the Cure Raises $220,000 for T1D ResearchNovember 7, 2023
- Recognized by MMSD and ReWa for Water ConservationAugust 11, 2023
Google Rating
4.9
4.9
Hallman Lindsay Greenfield
20:59 30 Jan 20
We have used ITU Absorbtech at our location for years now. Skyler always does a great job. He is very professional and efficient.read more
Kim Hoffman
18:51 30 Jan 20
ITU has been Venango Steel's uniform and mat supplier for nine years. It has been a great partnership. The quality of the products meets or exceeds expectations. Jeff Miller is our representative and Chad Prather is our route driver. They go the extra step to keep the customer happy !
Thank you Jeff & Chad !read more
Randy Groth
14:48 30 Jan 20
Our rep is Branislov and our manager is Kieth both are very friendly and give us great service. We have had ITU for over 40 years. I like what they do for "coats for kids" by cleaning all the donated clothes. Also they are a very environmentally aware company.read more
john wyszkowski
15:50 29 Jan 20
CDM Tool has been using ITU for a long time. They have dedicated drivers. Bob our driver knows our company so well, he is able to tell based on our supply's that are used how business is going. He then adjusts so we don't overpay. The best part is that they don't create more work for me. We have never had an issue with lost uniforms.read more
Krystal Smith
15:16 24 Jan 20
L&S Insulation has been a customer for many years and Absorbtech has really reliable mats, always fresh and clean. Skyler has amazing customer service and is super friendly. :)read more
Jeff Foshey
00:40 05 Feb 19
Family owned company that truly takes care of their employees and customers as if they were family!!!
Jessica Wasmuth
19:54 23 Jan 18
Customer service is great! Dave and Bernie are amazing, very helpful and respond quickly. Staff is friendly and professional.read more
Dan Behmke
16:35 20 Dec 17
Bob Casey is my route driver, very nice guy, always takes care of everything. I have been with ITU for better than 20 years, I would never change. Merry Christmas Bob C.read more
Krystle Genz
17:12 15 Dec 17
Very easy to work with. Matt is a phenomenal salesman, great personality. Brian our service representative is always very courteous and pleasant to work with. A great change for our company and glad we are doing business with them.read more
Amy Kreckler
20:37 01 Dec 17
Our company has done business with ITU for 15+ years. They give good prices and good customer service. I would recommend them. Easy to deal with. (AFI Direct Service, Inc.)read more
Deborah Young
16:16 28 Nov 17
Bob Casey is our representative and has been for many years. Bob always has a smile and is very upbeat. It is a pleasure to have Bob as our rep!read more
My Account
17:05 22 Nov 17
Bob Casey is extremely helpful and always upbeat! He always has our companies best interests in mind, making suggestions to that end and is great at communication. I look forward to working with Bob for many more years!read more
Todd Birkel
16:15 22 Nov 17
Our Route Representative, Bob Casey, is very conscientious, courteous and extremely helpful. He continually looks for areas we can improve or adjust as our usage and needs evolve, and suggest products as appropriate.
Thank youread more