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GO ZERO lubrication ... with motion plastics

The promise worth €30 million

Save costs for lubrication for 10 years

By 2034, €30 million spent on lubricants and personnel can be saved in the agricultural sector alone. This requires equipping 500 cultivators every year in Germany with dry-operating plain bearings. What sounds like a fantastic advertising figure at first glance can be reliably extrapolated on the basis of a study by RWTH Aachen.
  
By 2034, €30 million spent on lubricants and personnel can be saved in the agricultural sector alone

What you will find on this page


Heineken Brasil
saves €2,815.49 a year
spent on lubricant and personnel
for 600 bearing points 1
Rockinger
saves €87.36 a year

spent on lubricant and personnel
per trailer coupling 1

Lemken
saves €88.00 a year

spent on lubricant and personnel
per cultivator 1


Why bother with freedom from lubrication?

Even today, most applications can run without lubrication and easily save money and time. The lowest-cost lubrication method is the one you don't need.

ZERO costs for lubricants

ZERO costs for lubricants

The costs of lubricants and their subsequent disposal have continued to rise in recent years. Expenses for so-called incorrect and lack of lubrication are not even taken into account. Lubrication: money that you can save for years.

ZERO maintenance costs

ZERO maintenance costs

Maintenance not only costs money, but also time. Shortage of skilled labour can also be countered with effectiveness. Recurring lubrication of bearing points is no longer necessary. Maintenance: time that can be saved for years.

ZERO lubricants in the environment

ZERO lubricants in the environment

To a large extent, forgotten liquid waste consists of so-called FOGs (fats, oil and grease). Half of the lubricants sold worldwide end up as pollution. And one litre of oil can contaminate one million litres of water. Years of unnecessary pollution.


GO ZERO success stories

Thousands of customers have been able to increase both the efficiency of their machines and their sustainability by switching to lubrication-free igus products:

Huppenkothen
Wacker Neuson Group
CNH Industrial

Freedom from lubrication pays off for the whole world: facts and figures

A look at the worldwide costs for lubricants and lubrication shows the high savings potential that advanced motion plastics offer. The negative effects on the environment are also avoidable.

spent on lubricants worldwide

$240 billion

spent on lubricants worldwide

Expensive machine downtimes due to insufficient lubrication

$750 billion

spent on machine downtimes due to insufficient lubrication every year

Lubricants end up in the environment

50%

of lubricants sold worldwide end up in the environment

Oil contaminates water

1l of oil

contaminates 1,000,000l of water

More figures, data and facts in the RWTH study

RWTH study
An independent study quantifies the ecological and economic benefits of self-lubricating plastic bearings for the first time. It was carried out by the Werkzeugbau Akademie, a research company that works on the RWTH Aachen Campus as part of one of Europe's largest research laboratories in the field of production technology, together with the Fraunhofer Institute, among others. In the context of the study, expert interviews were conducted with nine companies from the automation technology, construction machinery, agricultural, food, packaging and bottling industries. The participants include CNH Industrial, Heineken and Krones AG, among others.
 

Questions and answers about freedom from lubrication

 
What are the advantages of plain bearings without lubrication?
Lubrication-free plain bearings eliminate the risk of contamination, reduce maintenance work and costs while increasing durability. This increases the service life of the bearings and machines.
 
How do self-lubricating plain bearings work?
Self-lubricating plain bearings are made of materials that contain solid lubricants, which are released during operation. Thus, no external lubrication is required.
 
In which applications are lubrication-free plain bearings particularly advantageous?
Plain bearings without lubrication are ideal for environments where lubricants are problematic or where cleanliness is of great importance. Examples are the food and pharmaceutical industries, cleanrooms or surroundings with high dust loads. They are also advantageous in environments that are difficult to access as maintenance work is reduced.
 
What are the ecological advantages of lubrication-free plastic bearings compared to metal bearings?
Eliminating lubricants reduces the environmental impact and energy consumption during manufacture, use and disposal. Lubrication-free plastic bearings have a lower CO2 footprint and contribute to a more sustainable production.
 
How are plastic bearings recycled and what are the advantages?
Plastic bearings can be recycled at the end of their service life, which helps reduce waste and promote a circular economy. This supports the sustainability goals of many companies.

GO ZERO lubrication

Your way to freedom from lubrication starts here

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Save lubrication costs

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Lubrication-free to protect the environment

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Save lubrication time


More GO ZERO topics

Video in English
Video with English subtitles

1Annual cost saving due to the use of plastic bearings per machine/system



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igus® GmbH points out that it does not sell any products of the companies Allen Bradley, B&R, Baumüller, Beckhoff, Lahr, Control Techniques, Danaher Motion, ELAU, FAGOR, FANUC, Festo, Heidenhain, Jetter, Lenze, LinMot, LTi DRiVES, Mitsubishi, NUM,Parker, Bosch Rexroth, SEW, Siemens, Stöber and all other drive manufacturers mention on this website. The products offered by igus® are those of igus® GmbH