Life Cycle Assessment of lubricating grease (from-cradle-to-gate)

In the framework of the EU-FP7 research project AddNANO, the environmental impacts and the resource consumption associated to the production of 1 kg of a lubricating grease were assessed through a from-cradle-to-gate Life Cycle Assessment (LCA). The collaboration with industrial partners facilitated the collection of primary data and helped avoid scale-up assumptions. Where necessary, patents were used for filling data gaps, as confidentiality of information affect the availability of inventory data among the international literature. The Life Cycle Impact Assessment (LCIA) results highlight the relevance of thickeners and additives despite their low quantity. Moreover, this paper points out the necessity of a stricter collaboration between the research and the industry sectors in order assure the representativeness of data. Finally, this LCA could represent a starting point for more in-depth analyses, which can address also other life-cycle phases of lubricating greases.