Historical Background
The Kalmacoff family’s roots are in Kamsack, Saskatchewan where Jake Kalmacoff Sr. built a conventional crude oil refinery in the ‘30s which also re-refined used lube oil for the Air Force during World War II, and was designated essential to the war effort. His son, Jake Kalmacoff Jr. moved to Calgary with his family in 1958 and acquired the dormant Monarch Refinery in what was then the Village of Hubalta, Alberta. It had been built in 1939, but only operated for 2 years before being shut down. Jake Jr. applied similar re-refining technology that the family had developed during the war, and named the business Hub Oil Company Ltd.
Building on past experience, the Company collected and recycled used lubricating oil from industrial and commercial businesses. In the ‘90s, the Company began collecting and recycling used oil filters, used plastic oil containers and used antifreeze. At its height, the facility collected and recycled 15 million litres of used oil annually.
Read more about this topic: Hub Oil Explosion
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