Sustainable lubricants are gaining ground

Governments are imposing increasingly stringent sustainability requirements

Sustainability is playing an increasingly important role in tenders issued by Rijkswaterstaat, provinces, water boards, and municipalities. As a result, contractors working in civil engineering are increasingly faced with requirements regarding the environmental performance of their equipment. This trend also has implications for the lubricants used in machinery. Biodegradable lubricants are therefore rapidly gaining ground.

“We’ve been seeing this trend for a number of years now,” says Ronald Kransse, Technical Account Manager at Van Meeuwen Lubrication. “More and more companies are making the switch because clients are explicitly including sustainability in their requests for proposals.” At Van Meeuwen Lubrication, everything revolves around lubrication technology. For over ninety years, this family-owned business has been helping companies optimize the lubrication of their machines and equipment. This goes beyond simply supplying oils and greases. Van Meeuwen employs its own lubrication technicians, carries out maintenance and oil change projects, provides advice on automatic lubrication systems, has developed its own software for lubrication maintenance, and systematically analyzes oil and grease samples.

At least as good, and often even better

Whereas biodegradable lubricants used to be chosen primarily for environmental reasons, they are now also an excellent choice from a technical standpoint. Ronald: “The quality has improved tremendously in recent years. Modern biodegradable lubricants now perform at least as well as conventional mineral lubricants and are even better in many applications. They offer excellent protection against wear, last longer, and often have longer change intervals.” He says that the fact that the purchase price per liter is usually higher says little about the total cost. “Anyone who looks only at the price per liter is missing an important part of the story. Because of the longer service life, less wear, and fewer maintenance intervals, the total cost of ownership is often actually lower. Moreover, less maintenance also means less downtime and less reliance on technical staff.”

The EU Ecolabel is gaining increasing prominence

In addition to outstanding technical performance, Van Meeuwen also offers sustainable lubrication solutions that are ready for the future. As certifications such as the EU Ecolabel play an increasingly important role in government tenders and sustainability criteria, Van Meeuwen has developed a lubricant that meets the requirements of this certification. In addition, the company offers an extensive range of high-quality biodegradable lubricants from leading brands such as Shell PANOLIN, BIOMAX™, LUBCON, and Bel-Ray®. This enables Van Meeuwen to provide a reliable, sustainable, and high-quality lubrication solution for every application.

Every machine requires a different solution

However, the switch to biodegradable lubricants does not simply mean that the old oil can be replaced with a sustainable alternative. Choosing the right lubricant depends on many different factors. “We always look at the application as a whole,” says Ronald. “What kind of machines are they? How old are they? Under what operating conditions do they run? Are there high levels of moisture, dust, or significant temperature fluctuations? The environment in which a machine is used also plays a role. A machine that operates only in the Netherlands simply has different requirements than equipment that is used worldwide.”

Thanks to years of practical experience with biodegradable lubricants, the company has amassed a vast amount of practical data and references. “This allows us to eliminate many uncertainties. We know what works in practice and what factors to take into account. We help customers with the complete transition. We oversee lubricant change projects, handle lubrication maintenance, and analyze oil and grease samples to continuously monitor the condition of both the lubricant and the machine. Based on this, we can make maintenance predictable and only perform fluid changes when it’s truly necessary. This makes the switch to biodegradable lubricants not only a sustainable choice but, above all, a technically and economically sound investment.”