PATH360 strategy
Castrol’s approach to sustainability is to take a 360 view, to seek to maximise our contribution to a more sustainable future, and our products and offers are core to that.
PATH360 has 3 focus areas
Saving waste
We’re continuing to help our customers and the users of our products towards their sustainability goals related to energy, waste, water and carbon, as well as continuing to work to reduce our plastic footprint1,2
Helping Customers
Energy
We are extending our passion for, and experience in, delivering energy and fuel efficiency improvements through our product and services into new sectors like data centres and battery coolants for e-mobility, where we are helping dissipate heat to deliver efficient cooling.
Waste
In addition to developing products and services that help extend equipment life, we are exploring how we can reduce the volume of our products that become waste after use.
Water
We develop products and services that help our customers either use less water and / or reduce water contamination.
Carbon
Many of our commercial customers are looking to take action in relation to carbon emissions in their value chains and Castrol is supporting these aims with the development of “lower carbon” and carbon compensated offers.
Tracking Progress:
We have developed an approach to help us identify which of our products and services do this best. We call these our products in the PATH360 family and we track their sales as a percentage of our total. To find out more please see our PATH360 Product sustainability assessment.
Plastic
We sell our products in a variety of formats from very small packs to bulk. To promote the responsible design and management of plastic packaging along its life-cycle, Castrol defines its plastic footprint as the amount of virgin plastic included in our packaging per litre that isn’t recycled. We are continuing to work to reduce our plastic footprint1,2
Our progress globally 2024
Helping our customers
- 23% of our sales volume met the criteria to be included in the PATH360 family
- 20% of our sales volume met the product assessment criteria for save energy, waste or water
- Castrol MoreCircularTM offer launched in the US, where RRBO based products are supplied and used oil is collected from participating customers and sent to re-refining
- Used oil collection pilots initiated in UK and Germany
Reducing our plastic footprint1
- Over 17% virgin plastic per litre saved vs 2019 baseline, through the rollout of new bottle designs, with less plastic weight or recycled plastic.
Reducing carbon
We aim to continue to reduce the carbon intensity of our products and offer2,3
We are doing this through a combination of reduction activities in our own operations, through our formulations and, together with our suppliers.
Castrol product emissions
To develop the PATH360 strategy, in 2020 Castrol worked with independent environmental consultants ERM to conduct our first assessment of its greenhouse gas inventory in line with the GHG Protocol’s corporate value chain standard covering scopes 1, 2 and 3. Together with our work on product carbon life-cycle assessments, this work enabled us to identify carbon reduction opportunities across the product life-cycle and to understand what we can do and where we need to work with our partners to influence change.
The infographic below shows the Average Castrol Product Carbon Footprint 2024 - (Scope 1, 2 + 3)
Infographic key
1. Emissions we can directly control or indirectly influence
Embodied or embedded carbon
Greenhouse gas emissions generated during the production and transportation of goods, from the extraction of raw materials to the manufacturing process and final delivery to the customer.
2. Hardest to abate emissions
Carbon content
Greenhouse gas emissions generated by products based on their chemical makeup, application in use and end of use treatment
3. Secondary use
N.B. Carbon content emitted to atmosphere through secondary use (e.g. as a fuel) is NOT included in Castrol's product footprint boundary.
4. Raw Material Production Emissions
Production emissions of base oils and additives, from extraction to the supplier’s factory gate.
5. Distribution Emissions
Emissions from moving goods across the value chain, from the supplier’s factory gate through delivery to the consumer.
6. Production (Blending & Filling)
Production emissions from energy consumed at Castrol blend plants and 3P sites (Scope 1 + 2).
7. Packaging
Production Emissions of packaging materials (e.g., plastic, corrugate, steel) and the fabrication process (e.g., blow moulding, sheet rolling, welding).
8. Losses in Use
Emissions generated when the carbon content of a product is lost to the atmosphere (through combustion, evaporation or leakage) during its functional use or application.
9. End of Use
Emissions generated when the carbon content of a product is lost to the atmosphere with no secondary benefit (e.g., landfilled, incinerated without energy recovery or lost to the environment.
Our progress globally 2024
- 43% reduction in scope 1 and scope 2 carbon emissions from Castrol owned or controlled operations (vs. 2019) By emphasizing energy efficiency, generating renewable energy on-site, and utilizing electricity from renewable sources4
- 16 of our 21 blend plants by end of 2024, use renewable electricity through RECs, and our headquarters is on a green electricity tariff
- 7 sites have solar installed
- 1 site has a wind turbine
- Carbon neutral achievement in accordance with PAS 2060 for scope 1 & 25 for Castrol owned or controlled operations
- We have calculated the carbon footprints of all our products to understand their sources of emissions (Scope 1, 2 and 3) across their entire lifecycle (from cradle to grave).
- 5% of base oil converted to rerefined oil, increasing the use of recycled material in Castrol lubricants, and reducing product carbon footprints
- Regular engagements with key suppliers to seek to understand their carbon reduction plans
Improving people's lives
At Castrol, our purpose-driven approach is anchored in the belief that business success and societal progress go hand in hand. Through a combination of a robust safety culture, inclusive workplace initiatives, and community programmes, we are actively improving lives across the globe.
We embed our safety principles across all Castrol work environments, recognising that a culture of speaking up is fundamental to maintaining safety. Inclusion plays a critical role—when individuals feel valued, they are more likely to voice concerns and contribute openly. We are committed to fostering an inclusive workplace by actively listening to feedback from all our employees and implementing best practices such as listening sessions and all-hands meetings, seeking to keep Castrol a place where everyone can thrive and make a difference.
Castrol’s values manifest in tangible community upliftment efforts such as upskilling mechanics and truck drivers in technical skills, financial and digital literacy and life skills in India; empowering women and youth near Castrol’s operational areas in India by promoting entrepreneurship and employability; community programmes for school children in Wayne, USA; and, Mangrove forest rehabilitation and waste collection initiatives in Indonesia reflecting Castrol’s commitment to biodiversity and sustainability.
These programmes are not only aligned with Castrol’s values but also demonstrate a deep commitment to social equity and environmental stewardship.
...and 6 guiding principles
1. Think Circular
We look at the environmental profile of our products from “cradle to grave” and are using circular economy thinking to help us improve them.
2. Customer Solutions
We know that the biggest difference we can make is by working together with our customers and partners and helping towards their sustainability goals. Our products can help their users save energy, waste or water and we are focused on high performance solutions to maximise this contribution. We are also working to develop products with lower carbon footprints to support customers towards their carbon aims.
3. Support the Transition
We are extending our passion for efficiency from a continued focus on saving waste by reducing corrosion and wear, and reducing fuel use by fighting friction into new sectors with growing energy demands like data centres and batteries for EV’s, where we are investing in and developing products and services to help dissipate heat to deliver efficient cooling. And continuing to develop products and services that support the world’s transition to renewable energy like greases for wind turbines.
4. Lower Carbon Design
We consider life-cycle carbon emissions as part of our product development process to deliver high performance lower life-cycle carbon solutions.
5. Compensation
We prioritise reduction in environmental impact, but delivery can take time or be limited. Compensation, e.g. funding towards environmental programmes, can offer a form of mitigating action.
We follow the BSI PAS 2060 standard to calculate the life-cycle carbon emissions (or carbon footprint) of the product, develop and follow a carbon reduction plan, purchase and retire sufficient carbon offset credits to compensate for residual emissions, thereby certifying the product or service as ‘Carbon Neutral’ in accordance with the BSI PAS 2060 standard. Our “achievement” is assured by independent assurers.
Find out more about how we track progress.
6. Improving People's Lives
At Castrol Safety Comes First and is the Foundational Guiding Principle of PATH360.
Our operating management system provides a single framework for our operations. It defines a consistent approach to managing our operational activities – helping us to improve performance in delivering safe, reliable and compliant operations.
Our Safety Leadership Principles
Our five Safety Leadership Principles are designed to guide behaviour and ways of working across bp to drive a strong, consistent safety culture. They are:
- We will not compromise our focus on safety
- We genuinely care about each other
- We encourage and recognize the need to speak up
- We understand how work actually happens
- We learn why mistakes occur and respond supportively.
They are informed by human performance and support a culture of care by helping us understand how people interact with their working environment and may sometimes make mistakes related to safety. In 2024 we took further steps to help our people use and benefit from these principles, particularly to support their psychological safety.
- *As part of bp’s ambition to be net zero by 2050 or sooner and to help the world get to net zero.
- 1Castrol defines its plastic footprint as the amount of virgin plastic included in our packaging that isn’t recycled
- 2These aims are contingent on supportive policy, action by our suppliers and market development
- 3Most of Castrol’s scope 3 emissions are from category 1 “Purchased Goods and Services”, progress is largely dependent on the practicality and availability of lower-carbon alternatives.
- 4Renewably sourced grid electricity covers renewable energy certificates, green energy contracts and guarantees of origin
- 5 Scope 1 emissions are direct emissions from owned or controlled sources and Scope 2 emissions are indirect emissions from the generation of purchased energy. Castrol’s PATH360 strategy is focused on these emissions first as these are where we have most control. Castrol’s carbon neutrality programme is in accordance with the PAS 2060 standard which requires ongoing carbon reductions as well as offsets to compensate for residual emissions. Find out more in www.castrol.com/cneutral.