Environmental legislation's in the US have questioned the role of multifunctional copper fibers/powders in non-asbestos brake pads. Other heavy metals like Iron, chromium, Tin, Zirconium from wear particles of brake pads and zinc from tyres dislodged into storm water. They discharge into waterways which affects the lives of invertebrates in the water. In this context, the present research work attempts to compare a formulation devoid of metals i.e ceramic fibres, friction additives with that of metal without compromise in the tribo performance. The parent formulation consists of 86%, and the rest is varied with Ceramic fibers (NANM), Cu and Brass fibers (NACB), Steel wool (NASW). Furthermore, applying commonly used metal sulfides with natural graphite (NAGR) and a specialty additive, namely PG902 (NAPG) using polarized graphite developed in-house, was also studied. An investigation was carried out on all the developed brake pads to identify the performance mechanism, which revealed interesting results. The surface morphology of brake pad was studied by Scanning Electron Microscopy. The analysis concluded that Additive PG-902 played a significant role as transfer film, which is neither due to sulfur effect nor reaction product effect. This film layer is responsible for the stable friction and wear life of the friction couple

Keywords: Non-Metallic brake pad, Eco friendliness, Polarized Graphite, Steel Wool, Transfer film