Shell introduces a management service for used oil in India

Shell, the largest lubricants supplier globally, has launched a used oil management service, a new initiative to organise India’s waste oil disposal system and to increase the rate of re-refining used oil in India.

This is part of Shell’s overall commitment to achieve net-zero emissions by 2050. As part of the initiative, Shell has partnered with used oil re-refiners to initiate collection and re-refining of used oil in India nationwide. These partners share the vision of driving a circular economy for the lubricants industry in India.

Shell plans to strengthen its network of partners to further scale-up the initiative in the coming years. The service aims to create an ecosystem for transitioning used oil disposal, which is acknowledged as being the biggest challenge in promoting circularity in the lubricants industry, to a formal setup. 

Shell intends to create awareness about best practices for waste oil management and help set standards for re-refined base oils (RRBO), in collaboration with re-refiners and industrial partners.

“Used oil management service is the latest testament of how we are leading the process of reducing waste alongside the industry’s larger environmental footprint in India. We aim to play a pivotal role to embed circular economy in lubricants and see a high growth potential for this service to reduce waste and thereby, reduce our overall emissions. We will continue to seek opportunities to support our customers in reducing their emissions via our products and services,” said Mansi Tripathy, vice president, Shell Lubricants Asia Pacific, during the launch.

“Being a solutions-driven, customer-centric organisation is at the core of our business model. This initiative reinforces that value and will help us support our customers with a more holistic value proposition that goes beyond lubricants.  Even more significant is the fact that we now have the opportunity to pioneer towards the first step towards a circular economy,” said Debanjali Sengupta, country head, Shell Lubricants India.

Used oil is classified as hazardous waste and is governed by the Hazardous and Other Wastes (Management and Transboundary Movement) Rules ­ 2016 in India.

According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), one litre of used oil can contaminate one million litres of freshwater. Without proper disposal procedures in place, 50% of all lubricants end up in the environment. India witnesses the generation of ~1.3 million tons of used oil annually. Less than 15% of this amount is re-refined into base oils.