Biolubricants. Regulations, Base Oils Family, Eco-Properties and Applications

Lost oils, accidental leaks and lost lubricants reaching soil and water (as was the case with Lake Constance, for example) are one of the starting points for the introduction of "environmentally neutral" lubricants. They are now part of the portfolio of all lubricant formulators and manufacturers.

Despite recycling, combustion in engines and known leaks, around 30% (between 20% and 40%, according to studies ) of the volume of lubricants is released into the environment by uncontrolled means, or is probably landfilled illegally. These uncontrolled discharges pose a major problem in terms of monitoring and controlling the quality of drinking and non-drinking water.

With public figures like these, the arguments of petrochemical industry lobbyists that, in most applications, fluids are enclosed in closed, leak-proof tanks are not convincing politicians. Perhaps it's also because, in Germany, around 60% of private individuals change their motor oil themselves.

In a normal economic year, around 4.1 million tonnes of new lubricants are consumed in the EU-27.

In the early 1990s, a series of environmental laws and decrees, as well as technical standards, were imposed in Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Sweden, and have since found their European counterparts. The trend was initially to reduce environmental risks and protect drinking water resources, forests and nature from hazardous fluids emitted in the event of leakage, damage or emptying by industry, private individuals and construction sites. The scope of the standard ISO 15380 for hydraulic oils underlines this approach at international level.

From the outset, environmentally-friendly oils attracted the attention of the Ministry of Agriculture more because of the "agrolube/-agrilube" or "biosourced" vision,...