Greece is first among EU countries in recycling of industrial oils

Greece leads the way in Europe in the recycling and reuse of industrial lubricant oils, said the Managing Director of Lubricants and Petroleum Corporation (LPC) Dimitrios Kontaxis on Tuesday. 

Kontaxis made the claim during an event of Greece-based petroleum refinery Motor Oil Hellas (MOH) noting that used lubricants from service stations, garages and heavy industry are upgraded and reused, reducing the need for raw materials as well as the environmental footprint. 

In this context, LPC (a subsidiary of MOH) announced two business initiatives: the first concerns the launch of the new industrial grease production plant with a capacity of 3,000 tons annually, located in the central part of the LPC refinery in Aspropyrgos, with an investment of 3.5 million euros. 

The second initiative relates to a joint venture with Naftal, Algeria's largest petroleum company, with the aim to set up a blending plant in Algeria to produce 55,000 metric tons of lubricants and 5,000 metric tons of greases, an investment estimated to reach 30 million euros and is expected to be completed in 2022. 

LPC seeks to consolidate its presence in the Algerian and African markets at large, and is the largest exporter of packaged lubricants in Greece with a market share of 98% of total exports to more than 55 countries. It has subsidiaries in Bulgaria, Romania and Serbia. In the last decade, the company's investments exceeded 17 million euros.