A UK trade association representing waste oil and chemical recyclers has probably existed since at least the 70s and has evolved using various acronyms such as CORA, CRA, ORA etc. Some of ORA’s current members were operating as far back as the 1950s when ‘Waste Lubricating Oils’ was actually the name of a company and AFO was the preferred product name to RFO.
During the 90s most of the following occurred before ORA’s incorporation:
1990 - Germany officially reunified
- Lech Walesa became the first President of Poland
1991 (Xmas Day) – Cold War officially ended
- First Gulf War
- Discovery of Otzi the Copper Age man found in a glacier 5,300 years old
1993 – Exponential growth of the internet
1994 – Nelson Mandela elected President of South Africa
- Channel tunnel opened
1996 – Dolly the Sheep
- Environment Agency formed
- New ‘Special Waste Regulations’included waste oil for the first time
1997 – First Harry Potter book
- Hong Kong returned to China
- Pathfinder returned images of Mars
- Labour regained power after 18 years
1999 – Launch of the Euro
- Fear of the Y2K Millennium Bug