PATH360 Castrol Product Sustainability Assessment (CPSA) (4th Edition)

Energy 

Automotive - fuel economy

Latest OEM or industry specification

Castrol’s automotive lubricants portfolio covers cars, bikes, and trucks; and within each application, the performance range offered is wide enough to cover the needs of our customers around the world, from older industry specifications to newer higher performing products carrying the latest original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and industry specifications¹. 

To qualify as a PATH360 product for fuel economy, a product must carry what Castrol considers to be a leading fuel economy requirement in its specification. This means the product has had to pass a stringent fuel efficiency performance requirement set either by an OEM or an industry body. Only those products where the fuel economy requirement is deemed premium/top tier are included.

Lower viscosity grades compared to market averages

A second aspect of fuel efficiency is the viscosity of the products. Lower viscosity products, regardless of the specification that they carry, can have an inherent fuel efficiency benefit vs higher viscosity grades. These lower viscosity grades are often specified by the vehicle manufactures to help meet vehicle efficiency and emissions performance requirements. This is typically led through engine design to meet these requirements which need a thinner (lower viscosity) oil to operate correctly for performance and durability in all required conditions. 

Castrol considers lower viscosity grades to be any product with thinner viscosity than industry average benchmark by business segment (Cars, Trucks and Bikes).

Products which have a viscosity grade equal to or lower than 0W-20 for cars, multigrade products with viscosities equal or lower than 10W-30 for trucks and multigrade products with viscosities equal or lower than 5W-40 for bikes can qualify as PATH360 regardless of the specification the product holds.

These products are used to enable fuel efficiency benefits by cars, trucks and bikes manufacturers and are leading the lower viscosity transition around the globe.

We estimate that in 2025, Castrol´s lubricants saved our passenger car customers 247 million litres of fuel, compared to what would have been used by the same vehicles using a global industry average portfolio of lubricants².  

“Reducing the fuel consumption through lowering the engine oil viscosity by only 1% would yield calculated savings of 1.7 million tonnes of CO2-emissions based on the total 170 million tonnes of CO2-emissions generated by German road traffic annually³.”    

¹ these are continually updated by the industry and OEM’s and Castrol will assess these in line with the review of this document

² due to the Castrol passenger car portfolio sold in 2025 being made up of a larger proportion of lower viscosity lubricants based on a set of assumptions. Fuel efficiency determined via the Industry M111FE test

³ Tribology in Germany: Interdisciplinary technology for the reduction of CO2-emissions and the conservation of resources 2019 

Waste

Many Castrol customers have set stretching waste targets such as minimising waste to landfill, responsible use of resources and packaging targets linked to waste.

To qualify as PATH360 under the WASTE category products and services must demonstrably help their users reduce waste arisings or support their recycled content targets: 

For example by:

• extending the useful life of machines
  
• reducing the waste generated by our product and packaging at end of use
  
• increasing the use of recycled content in product or packaging, .
  

Reduce

Extended Drain Intervals

Extended drain formulations are designed to prolong the products useful life and thereby help reduce waste.

To qualify as a PATH360 under the waste criteria “Longer Life, Less Waste”, a product will need to meet an extended drain interval specification. This means the product has had to pass a stringent extended performance test or an in-field assessment above and beyond what is typical for that application.

For example,

¹Approved by MAN for up to 120,000 km and Mercedes Benz, Volvo, and Renault for up to 100,000 km in accordance with their specifications. Actual oil drain depends on engine type, operating conditions, service history, OBD and fuel quality. Always consult your manufacturer’s handbook 

²Please refer to the operator manual for recommended drain intervals for you specific equipment. Actual oil drain depends on engine type, operating conditions and service history etc. Data is based on in-field tractor testing in India. 

³To demonstrate Castrol Duratec NG & Duratec ES extended drain intervals, we conducted a 12-month test in a refuse fleet.

Extending useful life

Corrosion and wear can reduce machine life. Globally ~16EJ of energy is used to remanufacture worn parts and spare equipment due to wear and wear related failures¹.

Products qualify as PATH360 in the “extending useful life” category if they can demonstrate that they have superior protection characteristics when compared to the industry standard. Products and services designed to prolong the useful life of the product thereby reducing customer waste arisings. E.g. additive boost packs that replenish additives and thereby extend oil life, or systems that clean oil to allow longer usage cycles.

¹The SRV friction (5ae) Test, 2016/2017

²Sincro Mecánica Wind Oil Evaluation 2016

³FZEG Micropitting test 2010

For more information visit Case Studies | Industrial | CASTROL UK & IRELAND 
 

Reuse

By understanding the quality of residual material at end of use and the environment it is working in, we can find ways that materials can be re-used thereby reducing total waste arisings and raw material demand.

Products designed to work as systems thereby reducing customer waste arisings. When sold together these products can qualify as PATH360 in the waste category.

 ¹Influence of tribology on global energy consumption, costs and emissions Kenneth Holmberg & Ali Erdemir

²For more information visit Case Studies | Industrial | CASTROL UK & IRELAND

Circularity

Many of Castrol’s customers have aims focused at increasing the use of recycled content in place of virgin raw materials.  Castrol is exploring opportunities to replace virgin raw materials in both its products and packaging. 

% Material Circularity (Circularity Score) 

The circularity score provides a structured measure of how effectively a product supports a more circular economy. In line with the Circular Transition Indicators (CTI) framework, Castrol assesses % material circularity by quantifying the proportion of materials that are cycled back into the value chain, either through re-refined content in the product itself and / or the proportion of used oil sent for re-refining, thereby reducing reliance on virgin materials and contributing to a more circular economy.

This evaluation includes the origin of materials (renewable, nonrenewable, recycled), their fate after use (recovered, re-refined, downcycled, or disposed), and the efficiency of the overall system in retaining material value. The treatment of secondary processes is addressed in the re-refining efficiency where material losses, contaminants and by-products are not included in the circular outflow.

By integrating CTI principles, the score provides clear, comparable insights into how well a product minimizes waste and preserves resources throughout its lifecycle. This metric supports informed decision making by highlighting opportunities for design enhancements, improved material choices, and stronger recovery systems; ultimately contributing to Castrol’s broader ambition to reduce waste, embrace circular thinking, and drive more sustainable resource use across its portfolio. 

Castrol uses a mix of primary and secondary data to calculate Circularity scores.

• Primary data includes verified internal information such as product formulations, sales volumes, material classifications, and data from Castrol’s own circularity partners and research markets.
• Secondary data is used where primary data is unavailable and is sourced from trusted industry reports for collection rates, disposal routes, recovery pathways, and loss‑in‑use assumptions.
• Potential recovery combines primary insights with established industry benchmarks to ensure consistent estimation across markets.

Castrol has obtained independent assurance from DNV Business Assurance Services UK LTD regarding its use of the CTI Framework to measure % material circularity for a selected portfolio of products and regions.

Calculation Details

The % material circularity metric measures a product's level of circularity by computing the average of two distinct components:

• Circular inflow: How much non‑virgin or renewable material goes into a product
• Circular outflow: How much product is recovered vs potential recovery

Figure 2: Illustration of material flows

PATH360 | Recycled or Renewable Content (Product)

PATH360 | Used Oil Collection (Customer)

PATH360 | Recycled / Renewable Content + Used Oil Collection (Prod + Customer)

All products and services meeting the following criteria qualify as part of the PATH360 family in the “circularity” category,

Definitions

• Circular inflow is the % of non-virgin or renewable content.
• Circular outflow is how much product is recovered (actual recovery) vs potential recovery.
• Potential recovery is the amount (%) of used oil generated (i.e., that is not lost in use).
• Actual recovery is equal to the % of used oil collected multiplied by the re-refining efficiency.
• The % of used oil collected is a ratio of used oil collected against total purchases of the products in scope over the same period by customers participating in Castrol’s MoreCircular program.
• Refining efficiency is the proportion of re-refined base oil generated compared to the volume of used oil input.
• % material circularity is the weighted average of the % circular inflow and % circular outflow for a given product.
• The material feedstocks which contribute to Castrol’s circular content % qualification are Re‑Refined Base Oils (RRBO) and Renewable raw materials,
• Re-Refined Base Oil is a base oil made from used oil sources that goes through an extensive process to clean and refine the feedstock into high quality base oils, ready to be used in engine oils and other applications.
• Renewable raw materials where biogenic uptake is reported in their product carbon footprint data. Castrol’s renewable inflows are mainly attributed to synthetic esters and canola oil.
• Packaging circularity is recognized as a material future pathway but is excluded from Castrol´s PSA 4th edition scoring, pending global harmonization of packaging recyclability definitions.

Water

Water is a precious resource and a valuable commodity. According to the UN, water scarcity affects more than 40% of the world’s population and is projected to rise1. According to the IPCC “roughly half the world’s population currently experience severe water scarcity for at least some part of the year due to climatic and non-climatic drivers”. 

Many of Castrol’s commercial customers are setting water targets related to consumption and to reducing contamination. Castrol is developing offers and solutions to help towards these goals. To qualify as PATH360 under the water category products and services must either:

• help customers save water, or
• reduce water contamination.
   

Water saving

By considering the environment in which products are used they can be designed to work together to help customers reduce overall water demand.

Products designed to work as systems and/or designed to be re-used within customer processes (thereby reducing customer water demand), when sold together can qualify as PATH360 in the water category.

Reducing impact on water / aquatic environment

We help our customers meet their operational HSSE and regulatory requirements where there is potential for their discharge or accidental release to the aquatic environment, by developing products with reduced environmental profile whilst maintaining their technical performance. 

This is achieved either through:

• conformance with internationally recognised “ecolabels” e.g. EU Ecolabel for lubricants or OSPAR Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Northeast Atlantic, or
• demonstrating improvement in environmental performance in comparison to an equivalent conventional mineral oil product based on biodegradation, bioaccumulation and toxicity levels. 

Products meeting these criteria can qualify as part of the PATH360 family.

¹For more information visit https://www.un.org/sustainabledevelopment/water-and-sanitation/

Health and environmental impact

Improving lives is one of our six guiding principles. The environmental and health profile of our products and offers is governed by legislation and/or managed through our own product risk assessments. 

The toxicological and ecotoxicological properties of relevant Castrol products are assessed to determine its health and environmental impacts. The minimisation and mitigation of these impacts primarily include alternative selection of raw materials and substituting these where applicable. Where alternatives are not available measures can be taken to eliminate these raw materials or where low risk appropriate measures are put in place to manage the use of products.

Where a product can demonstrate that a raw material has been removed or substituted to mitigate the impact (ahead of legislation) it may qualify as part of the PATH360 family.

Data centre cooling fluids

“Demand for digital services is growing rapidly. Since 2010, the number of internet users worldwide has more than doubled, while global internet traffic has expanded 25-fold. Rapid improvements in energy efficiency have, however, helped moderate growth in energy demand from data centres and data transmission networks, which each account for 1-1.5% of global electricity use.

The data centres and data transmission networks1 that underpin digitalisation accounted for around 330 Mt CO2 equivalent in 2020 (including embodied emissions), equivalent to 0.9% of energy-related GHG emissions (or 0.6% of total GHG emissions). Since 2010, emissions have grown modestly despite rapidly growing demand for digital services, thanks to energy efficiency improvements, renewable energy purchases by information and communications technology (ICT) companies and broader decarbonisation of electricity grids in many regions. However, to get on track with the NZE Scenario, emissions must halve by 2030.” 

Data centres & networks - IEA

Up to 40% of data centre energy is spent on cooling, and immersion cooling can help to cut this consumption by up to 80%. Additionally, large data centres can use over 1bn L of water for cooling, and with immersion cooling this can be reduced to zero. 

Immersion cooling fluids used in data centres may qualify as part of the PATH360 family under Data Centre cooling fluids.

To find out more visit: Data centre and IT cooling