Castrol Reduces Plastic Use by 20% Castrol accelerated its filling line by 2.2 times through a USD 5.5 million investment in its Gemlik production facility. Despite using 20 percent less plastic in this filling line, the company will use packaging that is twice as durable. Castrol, one of the world's leading mineral oil brands, focuses on three objectives through its sustainability strategy: reducing carbon footprint, minimizing operational waste, and improving people's lives. To achieve these goals, the company invests in numerous projects in Turkey and globally. According to the announcement, following two years of research and development work and an examination of global logistics criteria, the brand designed its most efficient packaging to date. In the first phase, plastic packaging for 1, 3, and 4-litre products is being replaced. As part of the project, a USD 5.5 million high-speed filling line was installed at the Gemlik facility, one of Castrol's 8 production facilities in Europe and which exports produced goods to 24 countries. This investment resulted in the Gemlik production facility becoming the first factory in Europe to use the new packaging. With the new line, the amount of plastic waste generated during production decreases and seamless transitions between different product weights are achieved. More packaging is filled in less time, resulting in time savings and energy efficiency. [caption id="attachment_151563" align="aligncenter"] Ayhan Köksal[/caption]

300 tonnes less plastic used while carbon emissions also decrease

Ayhan Köksal, Castrol Turkey, Ukraine and Central Asia Director, stated that with this project they have installed a new filling line at the Gemlik facility and that the new high-speed filling line is 2.2 times faster than the previous one and is suitable for filling packaging of different sizes. Köksal noted that the facility's first robotic palletizer is also part of this line, stating: "Our new packaging is also being produced on this line. For this reason, we implemented these two projects simultaneously at Gemlik. This line will also help us increase our production capacity going forward," while noting that their target is to produce over 120 million litres of mineral oil. Packaging that uses 20 percent less plastic in production but is twice as robust, allows for 50 percent more effective shelf space utilisation thanks to the new design. Köksal noted that in addition to reducing the plastic used and providing logistical advantages, they have reduced the amount of waste generated during production and lowered carbon emissions, stating: "The amount of plastic used in the production of new packaging is approximately 300 tonnes less, and carbon emissions are approximately 12 tonnes less. Furthermore, we softened the sharp corners present in the previous packaging into smoother edges and also increased durability through the new design. Through this new design, we can also fit many more products into a single pallet. As a result, in 2023 we will use approximately 7,000 fewer pallets. This means 300 fewer trees will be used in pallet production. As a result of this investment in the Gemlik facility, we have both reduced the plastic waste used during production and lowered our carbon footprint, creating less environmental impact," he explained.   Source