en.Wedoany.com Reported - Hindustan Petroleum Corporation Limited (HPCL) and Tata Motors have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to pilot a structured and scalable model for collecting, tracking, and recycling used automotive lubricants, addressing environmental challenges posed by improper disposal of waste oil.
As India accelerates its transition to a circular economy, the management of used automotive lubricants remains a significant environmental challenge. Waste oil is classified as hazardous waste and is often disposed of through incineration, dumping, or informal channels. It is estimated that only 15% to 20% of waste oil is sent to authorized recyclers, with the majority remaining outside the formal ecosystem.
The pilot program aims to create an orderly value chain that converts waste oil into high-quality re-refined base oil. Just one liter of waste oil can contaminate one million liters of fresh water, equivalent to the annual supply for 50 people. During use, waste oil accumulates toxic substances such as heavy metals (lead, zinc, cadmium), benzene, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). From a resource perspective, producing one liter of virgin base oil requires approximately 100 liters of crude oil, while 100 liters of waste oil can yield 70 to 80 liters of re-refined base oil, with the remainder also available for resource recovery.
Ch Srinivas, Executive Director of HPCL Lubricants, stated that the collaboration is committed to creating a circular ecosystem for waste oil. The operational model includes proper segregation at the point of generation, collection through collection agents registered with the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), ensuring traceability at every step, and processing into re-refined base oil in accordance with IS18722 standards. The Tata Motors service network will serve as an organized collection anchor, ensuring waste oil is sold to registered re-refiners and monitored through a tracking system.
On the technology front, the industry is transitioning from acid-clay treatment methods (banned by the CPCB) to advanced technologies such as thin-film evaporator vacuum distillation, hydrotreating, and advanced solvent extraction. When processed correctly, re-refined base oil (RRBO) is indistinguishable from virgin base oil and meets IS:18722 Part 1 specifications. Currently, the commercial viability of RRBO in India is limited, primarily due to feedstock shortages and high procurement costs, but establishing a supply chain can achieve feasibility through cost efficiency.
Both parties stated that the MoU is dedicated to establishing a viable ecosystem that can be scaled nationwide. Key operational challenges include the informal collection market, low capacity utilization of re-refiners (only 15% to 20%) due to fragmented collection networks, and the technical need for Group II/III base oils to meet BS6 emission standards. Both parties are considering deploying digital tracking solutions in the waste oil supply chain.
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