For decades, industrial oils have been managed irresponsibly. Massive quantities of lubricants are accidentally released or carelessly discarded, creating a significant threat to the natural world.
To combat the environmental damage caused by lubricants, numerous companies — Valvoline among them — have shifted their focus toward manufacturing eco-conscious products.
What exactly qualifies as an environmentally-acceptable product? What benefits and limitations do such products carry?
The following article was put together specifically to answer those questions.
Industrial lubrication ranks among the leading sources of pollution across Europe.
The numbers support this claim. Consider this: during forestry chainsaw operations alone, seven million liters of mineral oils make their way into the ground.
Non-eco-friendly lubricants — particularly those derived from crude oil — inflict serious damage on the environment. They generate severe contamination across soil, air, and groundwater, accumulate within plant tissues, and put both land-based and aquatic ecosystems at risk. Beyond that, their effects on human health are considerable, encompassing allergic reactions, nervous system disorders, respiratory illnesses, and cancer.
With that in mind, the adoption of eco-friendly, non-toxic, and biodegradable lubricating oils in industrial environments is a subject that demands serious attention.
Environmentally-friendly lubricants are products that biodegrade naturally, do not accumulate in living organisms, and present minimal risk to the surrounding environment.
As discussed in earlier blog posts, every lubricant — regardless of its industrial application — is composed of base oils combined with additives.
It is important to note, however, that not every base oil qualifies as eco-friendly. Petroleum, for instance, is widely regarded as harmful to the environment.
The base oils that satisfy rigorous biodegradability requirements include Polyalkylene glycol (PAGs), Synthetic Esters (SEs), and Vegetable Oils (VOs).
Synthetic esters serve most frequently as the foundation for biodegradable oils. They are produced through a reaction between an inorganic or organic acid and alcohol.
These esters exhibit outstanding biodegradability and pose no toxic risk. They also deliver a high viscosity index, a low pour point, low volatility, and excellent thermal stability — qualities that make them well-suited for lubricants spanning a wide range of viscosities. Synthetic esters perform reliably in both elevated and sub-zero temperature conditions.
Their principal drawback, however, is an undesirable tendency toward hydrolysis — a reverse chemical reaction in which water breaks down into alcohol and acid.
Polyalkylene glycols are produced through the chemical reaction of ethylene and propylene oxides with either alcohol or water.
These compounds offer a high viscosity index, exceptional cleanliness, strong shear stability, and a low pour point.
Products based on polyalkylene glycol are best recognized as compressor lubricants, though they find application across a broad spectrum of industries, including metalworking and hydraulic machinery. They deliver superior lubrication for metal-on-metal contact and function effectively across a temperature range of -40°C to 200°C.
Despite these advantages, their elevated cost and incompatibility with other lubricants have limited their widespread adoption.
Vegetable oils stand out as one of the most effective alternatives to mineral-based oils. Extracted from raw plant sources — including sunflower seeds, soybeans, canola, and turnip rape — they offer a naturally derived solution.
Hydraulic oils formulated from vegetable bases exhibit enhanced lubrication, anti-oxidation, anti-rust, and anti-wear characteristics, along with a high viscosity index and elevated flash points.
Being entirely natural in origin, they deliver a range of environmental advantages, most notably non-toxicity and full biodegradability.
Within the lubricants industry, several terms are used to describe environmentally-acceptable products — biodegradable, bio-based, and green among them. Although these labels are frequently treated as synonymous, they carry distinct meanings.
Selecting the right product for your vehicle requires a clear understanding of the properties and benefits associated with each category of eco-friendly lubricant available on the market.
Below is what you need to know about the various types of environmentally-acceptable lubricants:
Lubricant biodegradability refers to the chemical breakdown of a lubricant resulting from its exposure to microorganisms. Although the physical characteristics of the substance are altered during this process, its molecular structure remains intact.
The extent of biodegradability is determined by calculating the rate at which the lubricant converts to CO2. A lubricant is classified as biodegradable when 60% or more of the test material has been converted to CO2 within a 28-day period.
Bio-based lubricants — also referred to as bio-lubricants — are, as the name implies, derived from bio-based raw materials used as their primary base. These materials may include animal fats, vegetable oils, or other environmentally compatible hydrocarbons.
In addition to being renewable and sustainable, bio-based lubricants demonstrate notable lubrication performance, particularly in comparison to mineral oils. They offer excellent lubricity, a high flash point, a high viscosity index, and reliable shear resistance.
Bio-based lubricants are applicable in both open and closed systems. Those used in open systems are commonly referred to as total-loss lubricants, since they exit the system during use. This category typically includes two-stroke oils employed in chainsaws, metalworking equipment, and similar machinery.
Unfortunately, the adoption of bio-based lubricants remains limited, largely due to constraints in their production capacity.
Green lubricants have emerged as a popular term in recent years. Despite the appeal of the label, it can frequently be misleading. The reason: not every product marketed as green genuinely benefits the environment.
While such products are generally free from heavy metals and other hazardous substances, green lubricants are not necessarily formulated with bio-based raw oils and may not be biodegradable.
This distinction is among the most critical factors to weigh when selecting an eco-friendly lubricant. A truly green lubricant should combine both of the characteristics described above — biodegradability and the use of a raw, bio-based foundation. Lubricants meeting both criteria are safe for the environment and decompose rapidly without leaving behind toxic residues.
To qualify as environmentally friendly, lubricants must satisfy a set of stringent criteria. Among the key properties required of sustainable lubricants are biodegradability, renewability, and low toxicity.
Biodegradability is the characteristic of eco-friendly oils that reflects their capacity to be broken down by microorganisms.
So how is lubricant biodegradability measured? Through parameters that indicate the mineralization of the test substance, or the extent to which microorganisms consume it.
In practice, several different methodologies are employed to evaluate lubricant biodegradability. The most significant of these are outlined below:
The most widely used biodegradability test in the lubricant industry is Method CEC-L-33-A-94, developed by the Coordinating European Council (CEC).
This method evaluates lubricant degradation by examining test material at multiple incubation intervals using infrared spectroscopy.
These tests consistently demonstrate that mineral oils exhibit low biodegradability, typically falling in the range of 15% to 35%. The CEC classifies lubricants as biodegradable only when their biodegradability exceeds 80%.
A second widely applied test for measuring lubricant biodegradability is the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) 301B/ASTM D5864, which tracks carbon dioxide evolution throughout lubricant degradation over a 28-day period.
Under the OECD 301B protocol, lubricants are categorized as either readily biodegradable or inherently biodegradable.
Readily biodegradable lubricants are those possessing the inherent capacity to return to their natural state when exposed to sunlight, water, and microorganisms. Their biodegradability reaches a minimum of 60% within 28 days.
Lubricants in this highly biodegradable category are formulated with plant-derived oils such as soy or canola and contain no heavy metals. Readily biodegradable lubricants are also known as environmentally acceptable lubricants.
When subjected to sunlight, water, and microbial activity, these lubricants achieve biodegradability of up to 60% within 28 days. Inherently biodegradable lubricants are formulated from either plant-based or synthetic base oils and contain no heavy metals in their additive packages.
The renewability of eco-friendly lubricants describes the proportion of material that must be replenished through reuse, recycling, or biological regrowth.
To qualify as environmentally friendly, a lubricant must contain at least 25% renewable content.
The following renewability benchmarks apply across Europe, as established in the Official Journal of the European Union:
In recent years, reducing lubricant toxicity has become a top priority for many manufacturers in the industry. Under the CLP Directive 1272/2008/EC and the Standardized Minimum Requirements for Biolubricants, a lubricant must not pose a danger to the environment.
This chemical process describes the gradual build-up of lubricant compounds within a living organism. Accordingly, it is critically important that ecologically acceptable lubricants exhibit a low bioaccumulation potential, enabling their constituent compounds to break down more rapidly.
As an example, mineral oils based on crude oil typically display a higher bioaccumulation potential, presenting a greater hazard to both the environment and human health.
It is also worth noting that a lubricant's water solubility and its bioaccumulation rate have an inverse relationship — higher water solubility corresponds to lower bioaccumulation potential, and vice versa.
From the information presented above, it is clear that eco-friendly lubricants offer a wide range of benefits. Nevertheless, they also come with certain limitations that must be taken into account. A few of the most notable are listed here:
For more than 150 years, Valvoline has been developing and advancing premium-quality lubricants for customers across a diverse range of industries.
As one of the world's most trusted lubricant manufacturers, we recognize the environmental footprint that comes with our operations. Through a series of green initiatives, we are actively working to make both our products and our processes more sustainable.
Our product range includes an extensive selection of ecologically-friendly lubricants.
A prime example is our Ultramax Bio-46 — a premium hydraulic oil engineered to perform under high pressures and extreme temperatures. Designed for use in demanding conditions, it serves industrial, forestry, mining, tunnel construction, and earthmoving machinery and equipment. Most importantly, Ultramax Bio-46 is formulated with biodegradable synthetic esters, making it an environmentally sound choice in the event of a spill.
Alongside our biodegradable hydraulic oils, we also offer biodegradable lubricating greases. Our Bio LiCal is a lithium-calcium grease produced from natural esters and specialized additives, used in forestry equipment, agricultural machinery, and harbor cranes. Its defining property is full biodegradability.
Explore our lubricant range to find high-performing products that are also kind to the environment. Detailed information on each product is available through our product information sheets and safety data sheets.
Unsure which product suits your needs? Our Lubricant Advisor is ready to help.
Lubrication of machinery, vehicles, and equipment forms the backbone of virtually every industry, from mining to marine operations. Yet the continued use of non-eco-friendly lubricants poses a serious environmental risk. Oil spills and improper storage lead to severe contamination of soil, water, and land, threatening terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems alike while also affecting human health in multiple ways.
This is precisely where environmentally-friendly lubrication solutions make their case. These bio-based, biodegradable substances are specifically engineered to minimize pollution without sacrificing the performance of your vehicles, machinery, or equipment.
As such, they represent the direction industrial lubrication is heading. Their future adoption and integration will depend on their ability to address the challenges noted above while remaining price-competitive in the marketplace.
