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INSIGHT


Quo vadis - Bio-Lubricants? CEN TC19 WG33 - an update on current activities


Dr. Patrick Galda, PANOLIN Production AG, Madetswil, Switzerland


Introduction For more than 30 years ecolabels have existed to give environmentally-acceptable lubricants (EAL) a forum. At the same time the very definition of what constitutes an EAL has been in a state of near constant flux. Such has been the confusion surrounding the term EAL, that in 2009 the European Union’s regulation M/430, CEN TC19/WG33 defined the term “bio-lubricant” in the standard EN 16807.[1]


This standard identified a “bio-lubricant” through the use of easy-to-handle tests performed on the finished product. Against this background, the standard EN 17181 was developed as a method to determine the biodegradation of finished products based on mineralisation. But work did not stop here. Further efforts are necessary to improve the tool box of tests regarding for example, bioaccumulation and life cycle analysis.


The definition of “bio-lubricant” – Background Over the last 30 years there have been many attempts to determine environmental characteristics for dedicated groups of lubricants, based on standards and trademarks.


Germany’s Blue Angel Ecolabel, launched in 1978, was the first to set the standard for biodegradable chain saw oils in 1988. Their RAL – UZ 48 standard, established requirements for biodegradability and toxicity more than 30 years ago [2]. Just one year later, PANOLIN HLP SYNTH was the first biodegradable hydraulic fluid approved by Germany’s Blue Angel.


Other countries, including Japan and various Scandinavian countries launched their own ecolabels in 1989, the EcoMark and Nordic Swan, and later still the European Union developed their own requirements for so-called EALs in 2005.


A fact which some readers may not be aware of is that in early 1992, the then Mobil Corporation registered “EAL” as its trademark – an acronym which soon became synonymous for environmentally acceptable lubricants. Because of this, and for a long time, this process of defining clear parameters for ascertaining biodegradable and less harmful lubricants was accompanied by a tangled mass of marketing slogans to promote products in a ‘green’ light.


Figure 1.


Figure 2.


34


LUBE MAGAZINE NO.160 DECEMBER 2020


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