SK Lubricants Launches 'Carbon Neutral Lubricant'... First Domestic Brand

Carbon Offset Products Covering Entire Lifecycle
from Production to Transport, Consumption, and Disposal
Available Online Starting October

SK Lubricants Carbon Neutral Lubricant Products. Photo by SK Lubricants

[Asia Economy Reporter Donghoon Jeong] SK Lubricants is launching the first domestic brand 'Carbon Offset Lubricant.' This product achieves zero carbon emissions through the purchase of carbon credits, and the company plans to continue efforts to directly reduce carbon emissions throughout the entire product lifecycle.

On the 7th, SK Lubricants announced that starting next month, it will supply carbon-neutral lubricants that offset carbon emissions generated throughout the entire product lifecycle, including production, transportation, consumption, and disposal. This product compensates for greenhouse gas emissions by calculating the total greenhouse gases generated during the product lifecycle and purchasing an equivalent amount of carbon credits issued from greenhouse gas absorption and reduction projects such as afforestation. The target products are three types of premium low-viscosity engine oils (ZIC X9 ZERO 0W-30, ZIC X9 LS ZERO 0W-20, ZIC X9 ZERO 0W-16).

Currently, the practical way to reduce carbon emissions is to offset emissions through the purchase of carbon credits. There is no technology to completely eliminate carbon emissions during the manufacturing process, and it is difficult to quickly replace fuel and raw materials with renewable energy or naturally derived materials. Therefore, SK Lubricants first secured high-quality, nature-based carbon credits certified by Verra, an internationally trusted voluntary carbon credit certification body.

These credits were obtained from the Guanar? Reforestation Project in Uruguay (VCS-959), a reforestation project that converts pasturelands in the Guanar? region back into forests. The project is expected to absorb a total of 7.8 million tons of greenhouse gases and will also carry out activities such as biodiversity conservation, local job creation, and soil improvement.

SK Lubricants plans to sell the carbon-neutral lubricants online to general consumers. Consumers can participate in carbon reduction activities while saving on fuel costs by using carbon-neutral lubricants. Online sales are expected to increase consumer accessibility to the products. SK Lubricants will disclose the results of greenhouse gas emission compensation throughout the entire process and the sources of carbon credits on the ZIC (SK ZIC) website to help consumers understand the carbon-neutral lubricants they purchase.

In addition, SK Lubricants will continue to expand measures to directly reduce carbon emissions. The company has already improved process efficiency and is reviewing additional reduction measures such as increasing the recycled HDPE (high-density polyethylene) content in containers to reduce packaging emissions and improving transportation efficiency. Since last year, eco-friendly containers have been applied to representative products accounting for 30% of the company’s lubricant volume, with 20% of the eco-friendly container materials made from recycled plastics. Furthermore, in July, SK Lubricants signed a multilateral memorandum of understanding related to a 'Waste Lubricant Recycling Raw Material New Business' with waste lubricant collection and refining companies and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy to promote waste lubricant recycling projects.

An SK Lubricants official said, "We plan to apply carbon-neutral products to top-tier premium lubricants by monitoring the results of the upcoming launch. Along with this, we will continue to expand direct carbon reduction measures and do our best to achieve the Beyond Net Zero goal."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.