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

Lost oils, accidental leaks and lost lubricants reaching the ground and water (as was the case with Lake Constance, for example) were one of the starting points for the introduction of "environmentally neutral" lubricants in the late 1980s. Today, they are part of the portfolio of all lubricant formulators and manufacturers.

Despite recycling routes, combustion in engines and known leaks, around 30% (between 20% and 40%, depending on the study) of the world's population is recycled. ) of the volume of lubricants are discharged into the environment in uncontrolled ways, or are probably dumped illegally. These uncontrolled discharges pose a major problem in terms of monitoring and controlling the quality of drinking and non-potable water.

With figures like these in the public domain, 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.

Around 3.7 million tonnes of new lubricants are consumed in the EU-27, including 530,000 tonnes in France (2022). Western and Eastern Europe, including Great Britain, consumed around 6.5 million tonnes of finished lubricants in 2022.

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 ISO 15380 standard for hydraulic fluids underlines this approach at international level.

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