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Distributors have an opportunity to approach sustainability not merely as a compliance requirement but to create long-term value, for both their customers and their own businesses. Cristian Groenewegen, Chief Sustainability Officer at KRAHN Chemie, suggests that distributors are well positioned to help customers better understand their environmental impact and identify more sustainable and competitive solutions. Expanding sustainability efforts beyond just offering sustainable alternatives to conventional products, he notes, could enhance the role of distributors within the supply chain. This could be achieved by distributors strengthening their customer services and identifying opportunities to collaborate with different players in the supply chain, such as raw material producers or manufacturers, to create sustainable solutions for the consumer.
This advancement of sustainability in the chemical and lubricants industry requires a combination of a competitive product portfolio, deep technical and market expertise and dedicated sustainability support by distributors.
Examples of the latter could include helping companies transition to more sustainable products by gathering data for Product Carbon Footprint (PCF) calculations, conducting Life Cycle Assessments (LCA) or creating Environmental Product Declarations (EPD). Additionally, workshops and training sessions can be offered to help businesses navigate sustainability challenges. Lastly, distributors can take extended distribution responsibility and try to use their network to find solutions for the (production) waste of their customers, either in a closed or open loop approach.
Difference between LCA and footprints
Scource: Hauschild, M. Z., Rosenbaum, R. K., & Olsen, S. I. (Eds.) (2018). Life Cycle Assessment - Theory and Practice. Springer.
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-56475-3
Figure 1: While PCF calculations focus primarily on climate change and carbon emissions as defined by ISO 14067, LCAs cover a broader range of environmental impacts based on ISO 14040 and 14044 standards. As shown in the diagram, LCAs evaluate multiple categories, including ozone depletion, acidification, human toxicity and water use across all life cycle stages – from resource extraction to end of life. In contrast, PCF emphasises carbon footprint data, offering a more targeted but narrower perspective on sustainability. EPDs are based on the information from the LCA study, and communicate the LCA results in a standardised, verified & credible way, based on the ISO 14025 standard. Therefore, they are more useful for communication or marketing, comparison, and decision-making.
Sustainable trends in the lubricants industry Building on the broader sustainability trends seen across the chemical industry, the lubricants sector is also undergoing a period of significant change. Two key priorities are driving this transformation: the market’s focus on becoming more circular while reducing carbon emissions and improving transparency around the environmental impact of products.
One example of this shift can be seen in the growing adoption of re-refined base oils (RRBOs) by manufacturers as a sustainable alternative to virgin base oils. Additionally, the exploration of biobased feedstocks is helping reduce reliance on fossil resources. While the significance of these decarbonisation efforts remains a key question, transparency regarding products’ environmental performance, particularly in terms of CO2
becoming increasingly important.
In Europe, the increase in transparency is also driven by industry bodies such as UEIL (Union of the European Lubricants Industry) and ATIEL (Technical Association of the European Lubricants Industry). Last year, both organisations merged their sustainability committees to be more efficient in driving initiatives to improve environmental impact reporting.
16 LUBE MAGAZINE NO.187 JUNE 2025
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