UEIL’s Public Affairs Adviser Arne Richters followed the morning coffee break with an update on EU Public Affairs work at the UEIL. This year Arne reported that the EU is legislating less, its agenda is being hijacked by events such as migration, and national politics impacts upon the EU agenda. In the automotive sector there appears to be an increasing awareness of the issues surrounding the use of diesel cars in congested city centres which might be having an impact on the different mix of fleet cars where gasoline cars are becoming more popular. The EU Commission response into access to OEM technical data and the report on the impact of REACH on SMEs are still outstanding. The UEIL has had some notable success in the area of taxation and the planned tariff alleviation for Group II base oil, as well as the CN classification aligning synthetic and mineral lubricants.
The afternoon session closed with an important regulatory update on REACH given by Dr Sandra Meijer Director of Business Development at The REACH centre, and a session on CLP, GHS and the impact on product management given by Karin Hennung, Manager Product HSE at Nynas AB.
The second day of Congress began with a mini seminar series devoted to the growing but important area of bio-lubricants. Allen Barbieri CEO of Biosynthetic Technologies talked about the use of bio-lubricants in automotive applications. Although the use of pure bio-lubricants appears to be someway off in the future in automotive applications, the use of bio material which is blended with synthetic stock appears to be gaining ground and acceptance with OEMs. Marco Pecchiar from Matrica followed with a useful presentation on a new European source for renewable Pelargonic and Azelaic acid using the example of the integrated Biorefinery of Matrica. He was followed by the final speaker of the morning, Markus Scherer Director Global Marketing and Product Development – Base Oils at BASF who spoke about sustainability-driven base oil concept arguing that esters provided a perfect fit for bio lubricants in synthetic base oil stocks.
Following the public affairs update was a mini seminar series on re-refining. Frank Vanderpooten of Valorlube talked about the extended producer’s responsibility in Belgium where responsibility extends to the post consumer life of the product. Christian Hartmann, Managing Director of Puralube and the new President of GEIR gave a presentation on re-refined oils in Germany where the market for re-refined stock has followed the downward trend seen in the price of base oil which has had a corresponding impact on re-refiners’ margins and profitability. The final session was given by Dimitrios Kontaxis Managing Director at Cyclon who talked about the market for re-refined oil in Greece and argued that if all used oil was collected then 30% of European base oil capacity would be met.
Fabio Dalla Giovanna the UEIL President then thanked sponsors, speakers and delegates as he closed another successful Congress. The next Congress is planned for autumn 2016 in Berlin.
David Wright UKLA Director General LUBE MAGAZINE NO.130 DECEMBER 2015 51
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