1. Revision of EU Ecolabel Criteria for Lubricants
EUEB November 2016

2. Content Current criteria and statistics Revision process timeline
Summary of preliminary findings
Preliminary suggested amendments
Preliminary suggested areas of study
Next steps

3. Current EU Ecolabel for Lubricants
Commission Decision (2011/381/EU) of 24 June 2011
Legal Reference
content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:3201 1D0381&from=EN

4. EU Ecolabel for Lubricants - Current criteria
Scope
Category 1: hydraulic fluids and tractor transmission oils
Category 2:greases and stern tube greases
Category 3: chainsaw oils, concrete release agents, wire rope lubricants, stern tube oils and other total loss lubricants
Category 4: two-stroke oils
Category 5: industrial and marine gear oils 1%
14%
16%
48%
19%
[ECAT data (176 products registered)] 4

5. EU Ecolabel for Lubricants - Current criteria
1. Excluded or limited substances and mixtures
2. Exclusion of specific substances
3. Additional aquatic toxicity requirements
4. Biodegradability and bioaccumulative potential
5. Renewable raw materials
6. Minimum technical performance
7. Information appearing on the EU Ecolabel
The aims of the criteria:
"These criteria aim in particular at promoting products that have a reduced impact on the water and soil during its use and contain a large fraction of biobased material." 5

6. Statistics No of licences: 80 (313 products);
Licences per national CBs:
Companies: NYCO, TOTAL Lubrifiants, Zeller-Gmelin Gmbh&Co.KG, BASF SE, CARL BECHEM GMBH, Klüber Lubrication München SE & Co. KG, Fuchs Europe Schmierstoffe GmbH, KAJO-Chemie GmbH, ORLEN OIL Sp. z o.o., REPSOL LUBRICANTES Y ESPECIALIDADES S.A., CEPSA LUBRICANTES SA, PANOLIN AG, RS Clare, Vickers Oils, Lubrizol, Shell International Petroleum Company Ltd…
12%
45%
12%
20%

7. Revision of the EU Ecolabel for Lubricants timeline
TR Criteria proposal
TR1.0 + Preliminary report
Stakeholder questionnaire
TR3.0 + Final Criteria
TR4.0 +
ISC consult
1st AHWG
2nd AHWG
EUEB final draft
EUEB voting
Preliminary Report
Product Definition
Market Analysis
Technical Analysis
Improvement Potential
March 2016
February 2017
October 2017
September 2017
April-June 2018
September 2016
September 2018
December 2016 /January 2017
December 2017
November 2018

8. Summary of preliminary findings Scope definition and classification
Current definition is quite broad, however there exist more complex lubricant compositions, which do not consist of base fluids and additives: emulsions (e.g. metal working fluids, demoulding agents…);
Regarding the scope and classification, the current classification is based on loss and high risk lubricants, however only represents a 16% of the total lubricants market;
Total size lubricant market of about 37 MT in (44MT by 2022);
Several categories not covered in the EU Ecolabel are covered in other voluntary schemes: mould release, metalworking fluids, and rust preventive oils;
ISO 6743 Lubricants, industrial oils and related products.

9. Summary of preliminary findings
Environmental aspects
The environmental assessment done in a life cycle approach have shown that besides raw materials, the life stages of use and end-of-use can have high environmental impacts, since they are the stages where lubricants can reach the different environmental compartments depending on the application.
These impacts are highly important since approximately 50% of all traditional lubricants are released into the environment during use, spills, or disposal stages.

10. Preliminary suggested amendments
Revision of the definition and extension of the scope.
Partial alignment of the scope to ISO 6743 in order to: increase the market share and possibly to set clearer minimum technical performance requirements;
Addressing environmental concerns and market share  preliminary proposal of the scope extension:
metalworking fluids (MWFs), Family M metalworking according to market data under MWF category (more than 1.8 MT);
4-stroke engine oils, family E internal combustion engine oils release (currently only two-stroke oils are considered), (more than 15 MT yearly).
temporary protection against corrosion, Family R included in market category other industrial oils with 1,65MT)

11. Preliminary suggested areas of study
Thresholds for existing requirements are being revised in order to evaluate the possibility to increase the ambition level on existing requirements.
Potential new requirements are being explored:
Exhaust emissions for engine oils
Packaging requirements
Consumer information regarding use and disposal. Information on handling and disposal especially for lubricants intended to be sold to the general public.
Sustainable base oils. Re-refined oils: are established as a priority in the preferable hierarchy for lubricant waste according to the Waste Framework Directive
Sustainable vegetable raw materials. Certification schemes.

12. Next steps
Now: Preliminary report and Technical Report 1 (TR1) finalisation.
Preliminary report and TR1 publication end of December 2016 or beginning of 2017.
Ad-Hoc Working Group Meeting 1 (AHWG1), 9th February 2017. 12

13. Thank you for your attention!
Candela Vidal
Renata Kaps,
European Commission
Joint Research Centre
Directorate B – Growth and Innovation
Circular Economy and Industrial Leadership