Where does oil spill clean-up waste go?

MOBILE, Alabama (WALA) - A lot of people are asking what happens to all the oil once it's been collected from the beaches and skimmed off the water. The answer: solid waste landfills.

Waste Management has been contracted to handle oily waste. That includes oil in the form of tar balls, and any garbage that has come in contact with oil.

Oily waste picked up on Dauphin Island is taken to the Chastang Landfill, located in Mt. Vernon.

Waste Management representative Marc Ehrhardt said only about 10 percent of what's cleaned off the beach that's taken to that particular landfill is considered oily waste. He said the other approximately 90 percent is what would be considered household garbage; trash left behind by workers at staging areas.

Another Waste Management landfill is located in Campbellton, Florida. That's about an hour north of Tampa, and about eight hours away form Gulf Shores.

According to Waste Management, oil from Orange Beach, Gulf Shores, and the Florida coastline is taken there.

The Waste Management landfill in Mississippi is in Pecan Grove.

There are also various landfills in Louisiana set up to receive oily waste.

Waste Management also handles liquefied oil that's skimmed from the water. If that oil can be recycled, it is.

Oil that's skimmed from the Gulf and other bodies of water is not being returned to BP.