Improving Environmental Impact with Shell Naturelle
Protect your local ecosystems and your equipment
Businesses are under pressure to deliver more, while also contributing to a more sustainable future. This means they must adapt to rapidly changing standards and regulations – and use fewer resources, without compromising performance. All of this requires the proper maintenance and protection of equipment – an area in which biodegradable ‘environmentally acceptable’ lubricants can help. But what more could you achieve by using products that go beyond acceptable?
Taking the next steps towards sustainability
The Shell Naturelle range of lubricants goes beyond being ‘environmentally acceptable’, with a high percentage achieving the new EU Ecolabel certification.
It helps to prevent emissions because it is made using bio raw materials that are:
- Renewable
- Sustainable
- Ethically sourced
The lubricants are also readily biodegradable, with low ecotoxicity. Which means they won’t harm plants, animals or the local ecosystem in the event of an accidental spill or leakage.
Improving your impact without compromising performance
Shell Naturelle helps customers meet or exceed their sustainability and performance needs in more ways than one. It offers protection against:
- Extreme temperatures
- High pressures, high speeds and heavy loads
- Dust and water contamination
And it works across a range of applications, such as:
- Hydraulics
- Gears
- Transformers
Shell Naturelle lubricants are designed with challenging conditions in mind – as well as the longer oil life and performance needed for use industrial applications.
Releasing the potential of sustainable business decisions with bio-lubes
Discover the steps your business can take to advance the shift towards more sustainable operations with our white paper:
Five things to know about Shell Naturelle
With regulatory requirements constantly changing and a complex market of sustainable options available, Shell Naturelle can help companies reach their sustainability targets.
Here are five ways it can help your business do this:
1. Sustainability without compromising performance
Having a biodegradable oil with low ecotoxicity doesn’t mean sacrificing performance. With Shell Naturelle S4 Hydraulic Fluid, you benefit from longer oil change intervals, which means reducing the amount of oil you need to buy and dispose of. In a 2000-hour field trial using a Jonsered 2490 crane with a Bosch Rexroth hydraulic gear pump, the product showed no viscosity increase over 2000 hours.
2. Naturelle is safe for our environment¹
Shell Naturelle is classed as readily biodegradable because tests show greater than 60% of it will naturally degrade over the course of 28 days. As such it can be assumed to biodegrade completely under aerobic conditions2. These properties minimise any negative impact resulting from accidental leaks or spills in water or on land.
3. Naturelle packaging creates less plastic waste
By using recycled materials like post-consumer resin, we’ve been able to create a new kind of packaging for Shell Naturelle which contains a minimum of 25% recycled plastic. This reduces the amount of plastic waste going to landfill4. We’re also reducing single use packaging and encouraging large pack sizes to reduce packaging waste.
4. Solar energy helps reduce production emissions
To reduce emissions during the production of Shell Naturelle, we use solar energy to power our lubricants plants. Solar PV panels now deliver electricity at our oil blending plants in four different countries3 – and we’re going to be increasing our use of solar energy globally.
5. Shell Naturelle is a carbon neutral⁵ brand
Any remaining emissions from the production of the Shell Naturelle range are offset with Shell nature-based solutions. These are projects that protect, redevelop or restore land and natural ecosystems, such as forests, grasslands and wetlands.
Disclaimers:
1 All Shell Naturelle products are readily biodegradable in accordance with OECD 301 B, >60% degraded by the end of the 28-day test.
2 As defined by OECD, Annex I, OECD 301 guideline for testing of chemicals.
3 Bern Plant: Bern, Switzerland, Electricity generated from solar energy/ year (MWh): 90, Solar as a % of plant’s total electricity use: 19%, Estimate of annual GHG emissions avoided (Kta)*: 0.004 date: 2019.
4 Compared to the use of traditional plastic IBC and pails.
5 “Carbon neutral” indicates that Shell has engaged in a transaction where an amount of CO₂ equivalent to the CO₂e amount associated with the raw material extraction, transport, production, distribution, use and end-of-life of the product has been avoided as emissions through the protection of natural ecosystems or removed from the atmosphere through a nature-based process. CO₂e (CO₂ equivalent) refers to carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane and nitrogen oxides
