THE SHARP END OF SUSTAINABILITY

• The Sharp End of Sustainability – a new study commissioned by Castrol - reveals that 71% of business leaders in the automotive, industrial, manufacturing and marine sectors believe that managing the net zero transition will be the biggest challenge their business has ever faced.
• Castrol’s study identifies five key learnings for business leaders approaching the transition to a sustainable economy.
• Castrol will use these findings to share with customers and continue to apply learnings within their own sustainability strategy known as PATH360

A new study commissioned by Castrol has revealed that 71% of business leaders and 62% of operational professionals believe that managing the net zero transition will be the biggest challenge their business has ever faced.

The new study - The Sharp End of Sustainability - presents the findings of global opinion research among over 2,860  business leaders and operational professionals, commissioned by Castrol in 14 markets to learn how the automotive, industrial, manufacturing and marine sectors are approaching the transition to a sustainable economy. Complementing Castrol’s own sustainability strategy, Castrol’s PATH360.

For these businesses, the research suggests that sustainability will be essential to commercial success: over three-quarters of business leaders (76%) and 68% of operational professionals in the study said that improving the sustainability of their business is key to meeting customer needs.

The study identified five key sustainability related learnings for business leaders and operational professionals, the people who will ultimately be tasked with turning strategy into action.

Rachel Bradley, Global Sustainability Director at Castrol said:

“As the world works together to create a more sustainable economy, all companies – including Castrol, our clients and our suppliers – have a role to play. Reaching out across organisations, building connections between sectors, and sharing learnings across our networks will help us to move forward together."

Learning One: Efficiency First

Almost three quarters (72%) of operational professionals in the study said that the most effective way to reduce carbon emissions is improving energy efficiency in their organisation.

The research showed that operational professionals believe that energy efficiency could be improved by a range of tactics, including:

• effective maintenance of equipment.
• engineered improvements including upgrades and modifications; and
• the implementation of new, more energy-efficient technologies.

Two-thirds of operational professionals said that energy efficient machinery is an important part of their organisation’s transition and 59% said that investing in new technology to improve energy efficiency will be an important part of any strategy for reducing emissions.

Learning Two: Make Data Work Harder

Over three-quarters of business leaders (76%) in the study believed their business needs to get better at managing data to inform the best areas to focus on to improve sustainability, and 82% believed their business could make better use of the data they have available to improve sustainability.

Learning Three: Waste Not, Want Not

The study revealed that 63% of business leaders have set waste reduction targets and 61% have set water reduction targets. Whilst 58% of operational professionals believe that waste reduction targets are important to their business, just 43% believed that water use reduction targets are important.

Learning Four: Sustainability Requires Participation

Business leaders participating in the study believed that an average of just 40% of their employees understand their sustainability strategy. The study also found that 46% of operational professionals who took part in the research believe that their organisation’s sustainability strategy is not being carried out on the ground. 

Learning Five: Prove that Sustainability is a Priority

Although over two-thirds of business leaders (64%) in the study said that sustainability is at the core of everything their organisation does, the study shows that operational professionals surveyed believe that lack of leadership and vision is hindering progress. A lack of support for sustainability from the business’s leadership team (cited by 48% of operational professionals), not having clear targets (48%), a lack of clear business strategy for delivering sustainability (48%) and a lack of vision from business leadership (47%) were found to be the top barriers to sustainability for their business.

These five learnings provide valuable insight for business leaders in the automotive, industrial, manufacturing and marine sectors about embedding sustainability across their organisations.

This study was commissioned to complement Castrol’s overarching sustainability strategy, PATH360. PATH360 focuses on reducing carbon, saving waste, and working to improve people’s lives around the world as well as contributing to Castrol’s overall aim of becoming net zero by 2050 or sooner. 

For more information and to read the full report please visit: castrol.com/sharp-end-of-sustainability

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Notes: 

About Castrol

Castrol, one of the world’s leading lubricant brands, has a proud heritage of innovation and fueling the dreams of pioneers. Our passion for performance, combined with a philosophy of working in partnership, has enabled Castrol to develop lubricants and greases that have been at the heart of numerous technological feats on land, air, sea and space for over 100 years.

Today, Castrol is helping drive sustainability with our PATH360 strategy and aims to save waste, reduce carbon and improve lives. Castrol is part of the BP group and serves customers and consumers in the automotive, marine, industrial and energy sectors. Our branded products are recognized globally for innovation and high performance through our commitment to premium quality and cutting-edge technology.

To find out more about Castrol please visit www.castrol.com or contact bppress@bp.com.

Methodology

The Sharp End of Sustainability is based on an opinion research study that investigated the views of business leaders (mainly C-suite executives) and operational professionals (with job titles such as planning manager, production leader and operating technician) from the automotive, industrial, manufacturing, and marine sectors. The sample included 1,180 business leaders and 1,680 operational professionals based in the UK, China, India, the US, Australia, New Zealand, Germany, Norway, Turkey, Brazil, France, Vietnam, Singapore and Greece. The interviews took place in 2021 and were conducted under the ethical research guidelines set by both the MRS (Market Research Society) and ESOMAR (European Society for Opinion and Market Research).