Profitable and Sustainable?
How can Nynas Base oils help the grease industry reach both these goals? “First, it’s important to understand that profitability and sustainability are two sides of the same coin,” says Mehdi Fathi-Najafi, renowned grease expert and former Chief Specialist at Nynas AB, now Independent Senior Advisor.
Mehdi Fathi-Najafi
Former Chief Specialist at Nynas AB, now Independent Senior Advisor.
According to Mehdi Fathi-Najafi, successful grease formulation starts with a high-quality oil with an exceptional degree of solvency, and proper viscosity. After choosing the right oil, everything else falls into place.
“Better solvency means that you can reduce the thickener content, which in turn will lead to increased productivity, while reducing costs as well as energy consumption, and ultimately your product’s carbon footprint,” says Mehdi, whilst sketching out the the diagram below.
The conclusions represented by arrows in the diagram are not drawn lightly or without being backed up by evidence. On the contrary, they are the result of many years of experimenting in the lab complemented by a comprehensive and highly acclaimed industrial scale study conducted in partnership with a major lubricants manufacturer, see referenced below.
The study investigated the cradle-to gate sustainability of lubricating grease, using a proven methodology for Product Carbon Footprints.
“Our aim was to help formulators to improve the sustainability of their products. Ultimately, this will help all of us. Currently, we are a long way away from specific benchmarks for the industry. However, this study has hopefully set that process in motion, getting the ball rolling so to speak,” comments Mehdi Fathi-Najafi.
“You could call this a pragmatic roadmap for the transition towards a more sustainable, and hence profitable, grease industry,” he adds.
Ref. 1 Dodos, A., Fathi-Najafi, M., Kay J. Dodos, G., Grease Production, CO2 emission… a New Relationship, Eurogrease 2019_2 (April, May, June).
Ref. 2 Fathi-Najafi, M. Dodos. A., Dodos, G., Lubricating grease from Cradle-to-Gate: A Comprehensive Study, Eurogrease 2025_1 (January, February, March)